Late Night Drinks
by Air-and-water123
Summary: The beginning of the age old joke with a slight twist. Katara walks into a bar and receives the healing she needs from her bartender. Now continued by popular vote, the story moves on as they go on their date, but will a secret that Aang has kept come between them? Action, adventure, romance, slight hurt/comfort in the first chapter. Kataang.
1. Heartache Medication

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

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Katara walked into the bar. It had been a long day, and all she wanted to do was forget for a little while. She had caught her now ex-boyfriend Jet who she had dated for two years cheating on her the night before because she didn't want to have sex until they were married. Now he was gone and the pain of his betrayal was coursing through her, much to her dismay. Drinks weren't usually her first solution to her problems, but this was a strong pain that the only way she could think to push it down was lots of alcohol. Her liver wouldn't be too happy about it, but her heart was too hurt to listen to anything other than the pain rolling off her in waves. Taking a seat at the bar, she called weakly to the bartender, "Crown on the rocks please!"

The bartender walked up to her and poured her drink. "Here you go, Miss." He saw the tears threatening to fall down her face. "Miss, are you okay?"

"Yes," she lied as she grabbed the drink. "I've just had a long day is all." The bartender didn't look convinced, but he let it go on account of being able to tell she didn't want to talk about it.

"Alright, if you say so," he said reluctantly. She put the drink down fast and slammed the cup on the counter. "Would you like another?"

She nodded quickly, wanting badly to get as many in as possible. "Yes please." Her eagerness worried him, but he understood that something was upsetting her, so he just poured her some more. "Thank you."

"So," he started as she threw it back, "What brings you here on a Monday night? I've never seen you here before, and I never forget a face." Katara put the glass back down and thought about it for a moment. Obviously this man wanted to help her, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to go down that road. Usually doing that would cause more pain than not talking. "You don't have to Miss, but I hate to see someone so sad and not do anything about it."

His kind words mixed with the alcohol finally lowered her walls just enough for her to start talking. "I was in a relationship for two years," she started with tears beginning to fall against her will. "This guy that I dated who I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with decided that he couldn't wait until after we were married to have sex, so he went and cheated on me. Now I'm alone and he's out there sleeping with whores and having the time of his life." She let out a shaky breath as more tears streamed down her face. "He never even loved me. All this time I wasted with him, and he barely even cared for me." She wiped her tears and looked away, not wanting to show him her weak side, something she hadn't even shown her own family.

The man looked around to make sure that there was still no one else there and walked around the counter to give her a hug, catching her completely by surprise. "I'm sorry," he told her sincerely. "I can only imagine what kind of pain you're going through right now." His soft breath on her neck sent shivers down her spine, but she hugged him back, feeling some of the pain melt away as his comfort spread over her. There was something warm and inviting about his touch, almost as if his very soul was a warm, open, and inviting flame. "This might sound a little weird since I don't know you at all, but that guy is an absolute idiot. If he's willing to give up a girl as beautiful as you are, then he's about as smart as these stools here," he joked, making her smile a little as she blushed.

"Well thanks," she sniffled as she finally got a good look at him. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked over his features. He was gorgeous. His chiseled features were complemented by his short, wavy almost jet black hair. Muscles could be seen through his clothes, making them look like they could burst at any moment. And the best part of all, his stormy gray eyes. They were the most unique eyes she had ever seen in her life. It was as if she was staring into a thunderstorm that was about to rain down on her, making her want to drown in his smoky depths. He smiled at her, unconsciously making her want to smile back. His smile was so bright, so warming, so welcoming, it was as if someone was welcoming her home. She finally snapped out of her daze when he stood up, making her a little sad that he was leaving. "I guess you have to get back to work, huh?"

The man shook his head as he walked to the front door and locked it while flipping the sign to 'closed'. Her eyebrows raised as he walked back, but he just sat down next to her again and grabbed the bottle. When he noticed her discomfort, he smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you or anything, but it's a slow night and you need someone to talk to." He stuck a hand up in the air. "I swear, I'm not a pervert or anything. If you want to leave, I'll unlock it for you right now."

She looked at him closely and saw only the deepest sincerity in his eyes. Feeling a bit relieved, she nodded and relaxed once again. "Okay. I was just a little worried there. From what I've heard, most bartenders don't lock the doors during business hours unless they're up to no good."

"Maybe, but that isn't me," he assured her as he grabbed another glass and poured some crown in each for the both of them.

"Aren't you worried that your boss is going to fire you for locking up early?" she asked curiously.

He shook his head with a smile. "Nope, because I have the privilege of being my own boss. I'll never have to worry about getting fired." The shot went down as quickly as she had ever seen someone do it. He put the glass down and let out a relaxed sigh. "It also means that I get to have as much of the product as I want, so I enjoy that aspect of it as well."

She laughed a little, "Well I would imagine. So what made you want to own a bar? You could have chosen anything, so why a bar?"

"I didn't choose to own a bar," he said honestly. "My parents owned this place before they died, and it was passed down to me. I would have sold it by now, but it's the only real thing that keeps me connected to them, so I won't let it go just yet."

Katara looked at him sadly, knowing exactly how he felt. "I know what you mean," she murmured, making him look at her curiously. "My mother died when I was young. Shot by a man who had her at gunpoint at a gas station." His worry for her only deepened as she explained her story. "The man was drunk and decided that robbing a gas station would be a good idea," she continued. "She tried to fight back and lost her life because of it." She grabbed the necklace that was on her neck. "This is all I have left of her."

"I'm so sorry, Miss," he whispered sadly while taking her hand in his, causing her to blush again. "If it helps at all, my parents were in a similar situation." She looked at him in surprise and waited for him to elaborate. "My parents were mugged while I was at school one day, and I guess they did something to anger the thieves because I got a call that day saying they had been shot. I haven't been to their graves in years…"

She hugged him this time, taking him by surprise but he enjoyed it all the same. "I'm so sorry, too. That must have hurt badly."

He nodded slowly as he pulled away, making her groan a little at losing his warmth, much to her surprise. "It did, but it's in the past. They wouldn't have wanted me to keep mourning over them, but to remember them as they were and make the most out of my life." He chuckled a little as he poured some more into their glasses. "If my parents were anything, they were stubborn about me not letting bad things get to me. I'll honor them by living life as best as I can, no matter what comes my way."

Katara couldn't help but admire him. Here he was, a man who had lost his parents at a young age, who held onto their family bar just to feel a connection to them. That was almost unheard of in the world they lived in. Most people would have sold it and moved on to their next adventure, but he decided that he would do something he didn't really want to if it meant he could feel like he was with his family again. "I'm sure that they're proud of you…" she trailed off as she realized that she didn't know his name. "What's your name?"

"The name's Aang, Aang White," he stuck out his hand to her with a smile.

"Katara Aqua," she responded as she took his hand. To her surprise, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it softly, making her blush all the way down to her neck.

He noticed this and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, my parents taught me that whenever you meet a girl to kiss her hand. They were kind of old fashioned when it comes to stuff like this, but I think I like it better than just a regular handshake."

"I hope you're not kissing guys' hands then," Katara joked lightly, feeling her stress start to melt away the more she talked to him.

Aang laughed, making her laugh as well. His laugh was infectious, and she couldn't help but wonder why she had never met him before. "No no," he assured her. "Only for women. Especially for beautiful women like you. Though not many beautiful women come here, so I'm surprised that you have."

She blushed again at his compliments. "You really think I'm pretty?"

"Of course!" he grinned as he looked at her. "Did I not say that like three times in our conversation?" Katara couldn't help but smile back. Aang was so nice and comforting. He had even managed to get her to do something she didn't think she would be able to for a long time. Smile.

"Well, you're not too bad looking yourself," she found herself lightly flirting, forgetting all about why she had come there in the first place. Aang blushed heavily, making her giggle a little. He loved the sound of her laugh. It was like chiming bells, and he would listen to that for the rest of his life if he had the option to.

"Thanks," he looked deeply into her eyes as she looked into his. As the minutes passed, they sat there in a comfortable silence, just enjoying each others' presence. Finally Aang remembered he had drinks and let another go down the hatch. "Wow," he chuckled. "I've had this a million times, but I still am not used to how hard it can hit you sometimes."

She giggled a little as he smiled, listening to the music that she called a laugh. "Yeah, even the best drinkers in the world have trouble with it sometimes. My brother Sokka thinks he can drink, but he almost pukes if he has more than three beers. He's a lightweight if I've ever seen one."

Aang smirked a little, imagining that scene in his head. "Sounds like he's an interesting man. What's it like to have a sibling?" he wondered.

"Well," Katara thought about it, "It can be good sometimes, but there are just as many bad times, so you never really know what you're going to get. I can tell you that in my experience that siblings fight more often than not, so I would be thankful to be an only child if I were you."

"Maybe you're right, or maybe you're wrong," he shrugged. "Siblings might be annoying, but from what I've heard they have your back more often than not. Am I wrong?"

She thought about it for a moment. Sokka was annoying most of the time, but she had to admit that he was right. If there was ever any problems, like if she missed her mom or if she was having boy issues, then she could always count Sokka to be there for her as he could do the same with her. "You're right…" she said thoughtfully with a smile. "I guess I don't always appreciate my brother as much as I should. Now that I think about it, he's probably out there ready to kill Jet for breaking my heart."

Aang's eyes widened in surprise. "The guy who broke your heart's name is Jet?" She nodded slowly, not really wanting to think about him right now. He smiled sadly. "I'm sorry about that. I've met the guy. He's kind of a douchebag."

"Yeah, he is," she agreed as she drank another shot. "I don't know why I fell for him in the first place."

"Probably because he's a sweet talker," he suggested as he drank his as well. "I've seen him around here hitting on other girls, usually taking them home within an hour." Katara's eyes turned sad again. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything." He hit himself on the head repeatedly. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

She took his hand and put it down softly, much to his surprise. "No it's fine," she told him without letting go. "The more bad stuff I know about him, the sooner I see that I dodged a bullet. I just wish that I had seen it coming before."

He put a hand on her shoulder, making her unconsciously freeze as he stared into her eyes. "Well like I said before, he doesn't know what he's missing out on. He left behind an amazing, sweet, kind and gorgeous girl. The guy's a complete idiot for letting you go."

"Thanks," she said shyly with a deep blush. "So," she looked him in the eye, "any women in your life lately?"

"No, I haven't dated anyone in a while," he laughed. "Just could never find the right person, you know?"

Katara nodded with a soft smile. "Yeah, I think I know what you mean. Before I dated Jet, I didn't go out with anyone for three years. There just wasn't anyone who I felt a connection with. Then Jet came along, and he was this sweet talking, tall, good looking guy and I let myself fall into it. I'll never make that mistake again," she mumbled that last part to herself.

Aang raised an eyebrow, "Whoa whoa, just because one guy you dated who happened to be like that turned out to be a jerk doesn't mean you should just give up on people who just so happen to have those qualities. Not all guys are complete jerks. That's not fair to someone who truly wants a shot of having a life with you just because of someone else's mistake," he pointed out.

"That may be," she conceded with a roll of her eyes, "but I don't want to risk that again. There's a reason why that stereotype has a negative connotation on it."

"If you're okay with stereotypes, then how about I call you over emotional?" Aang challenged, making Katara frown a little.

"But I'm not over emotional!" Katara objected.

Aang nodded in acknowledgement, "And not all guys who are tall, good looking, and say sweet things are jerks. According to you I'm good looking, I know that I'm tall, and I've been told that I say sweet things to women. Does that make me a bad guy?"

Katara was silent for a moment, not really knowing what to say. Of course he was right, but her stubbornness and pride wouldn't allow her to say so. Looking at him closely, she could see the defiance in his eyes and knew that he wouldn't take 'yes' for an answer. "No," she said in defeat. "You're actually one of the nicest guys I've ever met."

He smiled, "Well thank you. I try." She smiled back as he got back to the point. "Don't just give up because one guy was a complete idiot. You never know when a guy who you're describing might turn out to be the love of your life, and you might miss your chance because you held a prejudice against guys who were similar in appearance to Jet."

She studied him for several moments in silence, taking in everything about him as a soft smile crept onto her face. "You know what? You're right," she admitted, catching him completely by surprise.

"I am?" he asked in confusion, not expecting her to agree so readily.

"You are," she smiled again, staring into his eyes unflinchingly. "You're absolutely right. I shouldn't give up on guys like that just because one of them turned out to be a jerk. It's not fair at all to those who have done nothing to me for me to ignore them because of Jet's mistake. Thank you for helping me see that," she told him with a long kiss on the cheek.

He chuckled nervously with a deep blush, "Um… you're welcome?" he asked more than answered.

She just laughed and brought her glass over to the bottle. "Mind if I have another shot?" she asked sweetly.

"Of course not," he grinned. "If anyone needs it right now, you do." He poured more into both of their cups. "How about a toast? To getting over jerks and moving on to finding new love. Cheers."

"Cheers," she agreed with a smile as they clinked their glasses together and threw it down. The alcohol was finally starting to wear her down more, and her inhibitions were let down just enough for her to focus on his lips.

Aang wiped some Crown that had spilled on the counter off and put the rag back in his pocket. "Don't worry about paying your tab. It's on me tonight." Katara couldn't hold herself back anymore. Aang looked at her to see her looking at him with predatory-like eyes. "Um… is everything alright-" He was cut off as Katara's lips smashed against his. His eyes widened in surprise, but sunk closed in bliss for a few seconds until he realized what was happening. Pulling away abruptly, he sat back a foot from her, making her frown.

"What? Did you not like it?" she asked sadly, thinking she may have made a mistake in assuming he was sending her hints.

He shook his head quickly. "I did. It's just that you're drunk right now and I'm not going to take advantage of you. I'm not one of those guys."

She grabbed him by his face and brought him closer. "Aang, I might be a little tipsy, but I know exactly what I'm doing." Leaning in closer, she moved her lips to his ear and smiled. "Kiss me."

Aang shook his head as he moved away again. "I can't and won't do this to you. You've had a lot of shots and are deeply hurt. I'm not taking advantage of you, and that's that." He tried to get up but she held him down and sat on his lap, making the stool creak a little.

"I'm not drunk," she insisted. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that I'm drunk." He did as she asked and saw that she really wasn't drunk. A little tipsy maybe, but definitely not drunk.

"Wow," he laughed. "You definitely aren't a lightweight if you can have that many shots and aren't drunk."

She smiled and moved her lips closer to his, "Yeah, but I'm not really interested in talking right now…" Before he could respond, she kissed him again and this time he didn't fight it. He kissed her back and wrapped his arms around her waist as hers went around his neck. After a couple minutes, they slowly pulled apart and smiled at each other. Before anything else could be said, she pulled him back into another kiss and got closer to him, despite already being on his lap. The kiss was amazing. Never before had she felt so… happy as when she kissed him. Not even after being with Jet for two years did she ever feel like this when she had kissed him. Amazing didn't even come close to how she felt with his lips on hers. It amazed her how all it took was one guy to come into her life and make her forget all about the jerk who had broken her heart. She was better off without him and she knew it. Her tongue begged for entrance to which he allowed, making her sigh in content as a hand went up and played with her hair. The kiss became heated and their tongues battled, trying to get the upper hand. Before either of them knew it, Aang was kissing her neck as she moaned loudly, enjoying the feeling of his lips on her sensitive skin. His lips got in just the right spot, causing the heat to rush south. She grabbed his face and smashed her lips to his again more urgently, feeling the burning need in her loins. They reluctantly pulled away for a moment, breathing heavily as they looked in each others eyes. "Do you have an apartment near here?"

He nodded, "My parents added a condo type deal upstairs." She smiled and kissed him again before dragging him up the stairwell to their right. As they reached the top, she tried to open the door but found that it was locked. "Don't worry, I got it." He took out a key and quickly unlocked it while she grabbed his hand and dragged him inside.

"Where's your room?" she asked a little desperately.

"Down the hall," he pointed straight across from him. She didn't hesitate and dragged him further along until they were in his room. She shut the door and locked it, the heat between her legs only getting hotter as time passed. Katara didn't bother to admire the room as she was too busy with attacking his lips again to care. They both fell back onto the bed with her kissing him hungrily, loving the taste of his lips. She tried taking off his shirt, but he held her hands in place, much to her disapproval.

"What?" she asked breathlessly.

"I thought you said that you wanted to wait until you were married," he pointed out. "Wasn't that the whole reason why you and-"

"Don't you dare say his name right now," she pointed a finger in his face.

He chuckled nervously, "Okay, but isn't that the reason? Now you want to do it with a guy you just met?"

"You're not just some guy I just met," she argued while kissing his neck. "I feel a real connection with you, Aang. One that I've never felt with anyone else before."

Aang rolled his eyes. "Are you sure that's not the alcohol talking?" She gave him a look. He took her hands in his and kissed them. "Look Katara, I like you, but I don't want you to do something that you might regret."

Katara leaned in and kissed him again. "Trust me, Aang. I won't regret this." He tried to protest again, but she put her hands on his face and smashed her lips to his. The spark he felt became too much for him and his resistance melted along with his brain as he kissed her back. Her hands finally managed to pull his shirt off as she admired his abs and muscles. "Wow," she breathed, drooling a little much to her embarrassment. "You're ripped."

"Thanks," he smirked a little. "How about we even things out?" She raised her arms as he threw off her shirt to reveal a dark blue bra. "I agree, wow is right." She smiled and kissed him again as his arms went around her back, slowly getting her bra unhooked. She stopped kissing him when she felt it fall down and covered her breasts. "Oh, so you're being shy now?" he asked with a smirk.

"Well it's my first time letting a guy see me naked," she defended herself. "I think it's only fair that I'm bashful about it."

Aang laughed and pulled her closer, looking deeply into her eyes. "It's okay. I think it's cute," he told her, making her smile and her hands drop from it, giving him a good view. His hands slowly cupped them, making her moan as he gave them a gentle squeeze. "They're beautiful," he murmured. "Almost as beautiful as you are." She blushed but kissed him again as she started feeling his abs, wanting to feel every inch of him. His lips resumed their attack on her neck, starting to drive her even more wild as she felt the lust burn within her. Her hips met his as she moved even closer, causing them both to moan as his erection rubbed against her cheeks. Finally having enough, they broke the kiss and took each others pants off as quickly as possible. Once that was finished, Aang kissed her neck and slowly put his hand into her lacy blue panties, rubbing her gently as she moaned loudly. "Wow, you're really turned on aren't you?" he asked with a laugh.

"Shut up and keep doing that," she demanded against his lips as she kissed him again. He complied and rubbed her more, making her back arch slightly.

"How about we do this?" he flipped her over and pulled down her underwear with her legs spread, throwing them to the other side of the room. She watched as his head dipped down on her and spread her with his tongue, making her moan loudly and clench the sheets as he dug deep within her.

She moaned louder, feeling nothing but pleasure as he worked on her. "Holy shit, this feels amazing." Katara slammed a hand across her mouth as a finger entered, doing her best not to wake any possible neighbors.

Aang looked up from her and smiled. "Go ahead and be as loud as you want. No one will be able to hear you. The nearest neighbor is in a completely different building," he assured her. She nodded and forced his head back down on her as his lips wrapped around her sensitive nub, making her pant as she felt her climax coming quickly.

"Aang… I'm so close," she breathed as his tongue re-entered her. He was too busy to answer her with words at the moment, so he decided to respond by putting in a second finger, much to her pleasure. "Aang!" she called out as she felt her first ever orgasm. He slowly lapped up all of her juices as she finally settled down, her breathing ragged as she felt the high come back down slowly.

"How was that?" he asked curiously as she still struggled to regain her breath.

After another moment, she smiled weakly. "That was… _amazing._" She looked down to see his erection poking out of his boxers. "Now how about I take care of you?" Not giving him a chance to respond, she flipped him over and pulled down his underwear, gasping as his ten inch shaft stood proudly. "Wow, you're big," she said with admiration as she stroked it softly.

"Thanks," he choked out as she stroked him quicker. When she was satisfied that he was enjoying himself, she wrapped her lips around his head and sucked lightly on it, making him groan and clench the sheets, almost tearing into it as she went deeper. "How are you so good at this?" he asked breathlessly as she went deeper down on him.

She shrugged and removed her mouth from his length, much to his disappointment. "I could ask you the same thing. Personally, I've never done this before, but I've had friends who gave me tips on how to do it, so I'm just following that."

"I haven't either, but I did pretty well in health class, so I guess I just paid attention," Aang shrugged. She resumed her work on him, making him moan as she went deeper on him than before. Her head bobbed up and down several times until she could feel him on the edge. Knowing what would finish the job, she closed her eyes and forced herself all the way down, causing him to finish instantly. "Oh Katara," he moaned as her mouth filled with his warm seed.

She slowly pulled off of him and licked her lips, enjoying his taste as he laid sprawled out on the bed, completely unable to move as he was in heaven. "I like how you taste," she informed him with a smile.

He laughed weakly, "I like how you taste too." She blushed a little but smiled and moved up to kiss him again, enjoying the taste of each other mixing together. After a few minutes, his erection stood again and rubbed against her lips, causing the fire to go back to her legs. She kissed him hungrily while stroking him back to full length. He flipped her over and hovered above her. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked seriously. "You only lose your virginity once."

"And you only give your first blow job once," she shrugged. "If I had to give it to anyone, I would definitely pick you."

"Well, I guess it's only fair that I give you mine as well in return," he told her with a smile.

Her eyebrows raised in surprise. "You're a virgin?" He nodded. "How is that possible?"

"Because I never found a girl I liked enough to go that far with," he explained as he kissed her softly. "Until today that is."

"Really? You've _never_ just wanted to have sex with a girl, no strings attached?" He shook his head. "You're something else, Aang. I hope you know that."

Aang smiled a little, "So I've been told. Like I said Katara, I'm not that kind of guy. Of course I want to have sex, but I would rather it be with someone who actually means something to me."

Katara smiled, "I mean something to you?"

"Yeah," he chuckled. "I told you I like you, remember?"

"Oh yeah," she laughed sheepishly. "I forgot about that. I was a little too… _distracted_ to really register that."

He grinned and kissed her neck. "Well how about I distract you some more?" he whispered in her ear, making her shiver in anticipation. Nodding eagerly, she spread her legs and grabbed his length and put it at her entrance. "This is your last chance Katara," he warned her. "There's no going back after this."

"I don't care," she moaned as he slowly entered her. He finally gave in and eased himself into her as he reached her barrier.

"This is going to hurt a little, so I'll go slow," he told her gently. She nodded in response and gasped with tears in her eyes as he pushed through her, clinging on to him and biting down on his shoulder to keep from screaming out in pain. "It's okay," he comforted her with a kiss. "Just give it a few moments and it won't hurt anymore." Sure enough, a few moments later the pain went away and was replaced by pleasure. She moaned as he started moving in her, his shaft practically splitting her apart. "Holy shit," she gasped. "It feels like you're tearing me apart." He laughed a little and thrusted slowly into her until she kissed him to signal she was ready. Finally getting the go ahead, he picked up his speed and thrust quickly into her, making her moan louder with every thrust. Her arms and legs wrapped around him as he pounded into her, feeling her head swim with pleasure.

Aang groaned a little as felt her walls around him. "You're so tight Katara," he moaned as he kissed her neck. She grabbed his face and forced him back to her lips as his thrusts slowed down but increased with power, slamming into her and making the bed creak loudly as her moans filled the room. Katara could feel her climax coming quickly as he made love to her, enjoying the feeling of him inside of her.

"Aang!" she cried out as she climaxed again. He gave her a few moments to catch her breath and caught his own as well. "Let's try something else," she suggested. He nodded and pulled slowly out of her while she turned around and got up on her hands and knees. He whistled a little at the view to which she rolled her eyes, but gasped as he re-entered her, going deeper than before. "No wonder Jet wanted to have sex," she moaned as he filled her up.

He leaned down to her ear. "He _really_ doesn't know what he's missing out on," he whispered huskily, making her sigh happily. His thrusts started to slow as he resumed their love making, wanting to give her as much time as she needed to adjust to him.

"Faster Aang," she almost begged. He smiled and complied by grabbing her hips and thrusting harder into her, making her scream a little as she slapped a hand over her mouth. Aang removed her hand and kissed it.

"No need for that," he whispered softly. "I want to hear everything." She moaned loudly as he went faster than before, causing the bed to creak with every thrust inside of her. As he had his way with her, Katara couldn't help but think about how it had led to this. Not that she was regretting it, but this was the last thing she thought would happen today. But now she was moving on to something better, something that could actually be good for her. _I won't miss Jet at all,_ she thought with a smile as he went faster. Her moans filled the quiet apartment as he brought her pleasure to the peak.

"Aang, I'm going to cum soon," she moaned loudly.

"Me too," he moaned back while reaching down and bringing her face to his for a kiss. Their ends approached rapidly as Aang's hand went down and rubbed her quickly, making her dig her face into his pillow.

"Aang!" she called out as she felt her final release. He wasn't too far behind and finished with one final thrust as he burst inside her.

"Oh Katara!" he moaned as he finally felt his release. They collapsed onto the bed in exhaustion, trying desperately to catch their breaths and failing. When they finally had enough to speak, Aang realized something. "Shit, I didn't use a condom!"

She calmed him down with a kiss on the lips. "Don't worry. I've been on the pill for a while now." He gave her a curious look. "It helps with periods," she explained. "I take it every day so I don't forget."

He nodded in understanding as he let out a sigh of relief. "Good, I'm glad." He pulled her to him and kissed her head. "Do you want to stay the night?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure," she smiled and kissed him. "I don't think I could move right now if I wanted to anyway," she laughed, making him laugh as well.

The exhaustion finally caught up to them as they felt their eyes slowly close. "Goodnight Katara," Aang mumbled with a final kiss on her head.

She snuggled into him as she felt sleep start to claim her as well. "Goodnight Aang," she mumbled back and fell asleep with a happy sigh, feeling completely at ease in his arms.

* * *

Sunlight poured into the room through the blinds as Katara slowly awoke, feeling as if she was in a foreign place. She could feel an unfamiliar warmth against her. This wasn't like Jet's warmth. _Where am I?_ She thought tiredly. The memories of the night before flooded back to her as her eyes snapped open. Looking up slowly, she was relieved to see it was still Aang holding her tightly, making her smile at how peaceful he looked as he slept. _God he's handsome,_ she thought with a smile as she stroked his cheek with her hand. He let out a content sigh as her hand traveled down his skin slowly, murmuring something she couldn't decipher. Wanting to know what he was dreaming of, she leaned in closer until her ear was right next to his lips. "Katara," he mumbled quietly as he held her tightly, making her smile widely. He was dreaming of _her_. She kissed him softly on the lips, not being able to hold herself back after hearing his dreams about her. As if on cue, his eyes slowly fluttered open to see her staring at him. "So that wasn't just a dream," he said in surprise.

She giggled a little and shook her head. "Nope. That was real." He smiled and pulled her closer for a kiss which she accepted eagerly. The need for air eventually became too great and they reluctantly pulled apart.

"So," he started as he took her hand in his. "I know last night wasn't a usual meeting for two people and that we're definitely passed a date, but would you be interested in letting me take you to dinner some time?"

Katara pretended to think about it for a moment just to make him nervous. It worked well as he gulped when she didn't answer for a few moments until she finally nodded with a smile. "I would love to," she told him with a kiss on the cheek.

A huge grin spread over his face as he sighed in relief. "Great. I was really worried there for a second."

She giggled slightly, "We had sex last night and you're worried about getting a date with me?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "For all I know this could have been just a hookup. I wasn't sure if you were actually interested in me or not."

"How could I not be?" she asked as she ran her hands down his chest. "A hot guy who is sweet and caring? How could I possibly turn that down?"

He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Good. I'm glad." They held each other in a comfortable silence for a little while until Katara heard her phone start ringing in her pants that were on the other side of the room. Groaning slightly, she got up and walked quickly over to her pants and grabbed it, seeing that it was her brother. Putting a finger to her lips at Aang, she answered, "What do you want, Sokka?"

"Are you alright, sis?" his voice rang loudly over the phone. "You didn't come home last night. Dad and I were really worried."

"I'm fine Sokka," she assured him. "I went to a bar and rented a hotel room so I wouldn't have to drive home," she half-lied, not wanting to tell her brother she had been deflowered.

He was silent for a moment as she worried if he would believe her or not, but he finally said, "Okay." She let out a soft sigh of relief as he continued, "I'm sorry that you're so hurt about what happened that you have to go to a bar, but alcohol isn't going to help you sis."

"I know Sokka," she agreed, catching him by surprise.

"You do?" he asked in disbelief.

She nodded knowing he wouldn't be able to see her. "I do. Alcohol doesn't fix things." She looked over to Aang with a smile. "You don't have to worry about it anymore. I'm over it."

"You are?" he asked even more in surprise.

"I am," she laughed as she played with her hair. "I'll be home soon. Love you bro."

"Love you too sis. Glad that you're not hurting anymore. See you soon." She hung up and looked back over to Aang who was already getting dressed. "Well, I guess I should probably get going."

Aang pouted a little. "Can't you stay a little longer?" he asked as he walked up to her and brought her close. "I like spending time with you."

Katara smiled and gave him a hug, making his erection poke her thigh as she chuckled. "I'm sorry, I've got to go, otherwise my family will get suspicious." She leaned up on her toes and gave him a kiss, moving her lips slowly and passionately against his.

He pulled away after a couple minutes and smiled at her. "So, about that dinner… Are you available Friday night?" She nodded with a smile. "Great." He grabbed a piece of paper from his nightstand and wrote down his number on it. "Here. If you could text me your address sometime, then I'll come pick you up for dinner. Whatever you want, on me."

"Okay," she agreed and kissed him on the cheek before she put on her clothes and put his number in her pocket. "Walk me out?" He nodded with a smile and followed her out to the door. Unlocking it slowly, he turned around to find her lips smashed against his, making him melt into the kiss. "Thank you for last night," she mumbled against his lips. "I really needed that."

Aang laughed a little, "If anything, I should be thanking you. That was absolutely amazing." She smiled against his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck as they kissed slowly, not wanting to let the other go just yet. Air eventually became a necessity and they reluctantly pulled apart, staring silently into each others eyes. He gave her one last kiss on the lips. "I'll see you Friday?"

"You bet," she grinned and kissed him again, trying to keep the taste of his lips in her memory. They slowly pulled apart and she walked out before she could be tempted to kiss him again. "Bye Aang!" she called over her shoulder as she made her way to her car.

"Bye Katara!" he called back as she unlocked it and sat down. Taking a deep breath, a small smile crept over her face and she started it up before backing up. As she drove out of the parking lot, she looked back to see Aang still there, waving goodbye with a smile. _I can't wait until Friday,_ she thought with a smile as she drove towards home.


	2. The Date

Chapter 2: The Date

**Hey guys! By popular request, this story will be continued, though I must warn you, it won't be very long. There are some other projects I want to get started on as well and I don't think I could make a very long story out of this anyway, so this will be around 5-7 chapters long. Anyway, thank you guys for reading and I hope you guys enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

* * *

Katara was excited as she finished getting groceries from the store. It was friday, the day that she would go out on her date with Aang. She hadn't thought that she would be able to date for a while, but Aang was such an amazing guy. Although Katara was certainly more hesitant to rush in a relationship now, she couldn't help herself with Aang. He was so sweet and charming. And the best part… he was _genuine_. He didn't put up a front. Everything about him was who he was, and she was looking forward very much to getting to know him more.

She laughed a little as she thought of what her brother would do if he found out that she had been deflowered. As much as she appreciated that he cared about her that much, she also knew that he could be rather ridiculous at times. Her first date, Sokka had decided to spy on them throughout the night to, as he put it, _make sure that no funny business happens_. Katara couldn't keep herself from rolling her eyes at her brother, though she stopped herself as she realized he wasn't completely ridiculous. After all, Sokka had warned her about Jet, but she had brushed it off, assuming that his over protectiveness was making him see things that weren't there. Of course now she saw that he was right, but she would never admit it to his face.

What would he do when he met Aang, Katara wondered. Aang certainly wasn't like any other guy she had met, and that was good, because most of the guys she had met thus far were not very bright, with a few exceptions. Still though, maybe after Sokka met Aang, maybe just maybe Sokka would see what a great person Aang was. She wanted Sokka to like Aang pretty badly. Especially if things went well between them…

_Whoa, hold on a second, Katara,_ she chided herself as she pushed a cart through the aisles. _You _just _met the guy, _and _just got out of a relationship. Pace yourself._ Still though, despite Katara's weariness, she couldn't help but feel like… like Aang might be the One. She had never been so happy before he had come into her life. He understood her pain from losing his parents, even going as far as to keep a bar just to feel a connection to them. Just as she kept her mother's old necklace, she too understood the value of family heirlooms. Something about them just made it feel like that they weren't truly gone, but that they were always with you.

Sighing a little, she shook her head and continued shopping until she had gotten what she needed. Though as much as she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about Aang. _I wonder if Aang likes sea prunes_, she thought in her mind as she picked up a container and closely examined it. She stopped suddenly when she realized that all she had really been thinking of was Aang. They hadn't even gone on a date yet and she was already hooked. Letting out a long sigh, she shook her head at herself. It wasn't as though she had meant to get so attached to him already, but he was just such a great person. Though she supposed it didn't matter whether she was attached to him already or not. She would just have to see where everything went with them and hope for the best.

Finally satisfied with her hunt, she made sure she had everything on her list and made her way to the front of the store. As she unloaded her cart, a familiar voice greeted her.

"Welcome to Bargain Mart, where everything's a bargain," a dull voice sighed at her.

Katara smiled as she looked at her friend. "Hey Mai. How's it going?"

Mai sighed again and rolled her eyes. "What do you think? I'm at work when I could be at home making out with my boyfriend." She paused as she remembered what Katara had been through and cringed a little, expecting the tears to fall, but Katara didn't show any signs of being sad. In fact, she seemed happy… _really_ happy. _Too_ happy for Mai's taste, but she wouldn't begrudge her of that.

"Oh. Sorry to hear that," Katara smiled sheepishly as she finished unloading the cart and brought it up to the front of the counter to put the groceries back in. "So, how have you and Zuko been lately?"

In a poor attempt to hide the wide smile that had appeared on her face, she pretended to yawn, but Katara saw it anyway. Her friend might not have been the friendliest person ever, but she knew her enough to know when she was trying to hide her emotions rather forcefully.

"We're fine," she finally shrugged as she put the last couple items in a bag and handed it to her. "Nothing ever changes, so that's good, I guess."

Katara didn't believe her for a second. "Come on, Mai. I saw that smile you tried to hide. What happened that made you so happy?" she asked with a playful poke on her arm.

Mai would've glared at her, but she was reminded of her happy thoughts, unable to keep the small smile that had made its way onto her face. "Well… he-"

"Mai!" an excited voice came from around the corner as a girl Katara didn't recognize came running up to them. After a few seconds of waiting, the girl finally reached them and tackled Mai in a hug. "Zuko proposed?!" she squealed excitedly while jumping up and down.

Mai shoved her off and fixed her rumpled clothes. "No, Ty. He didn't propose." She smiled a little and looked down at her feet. "But… he might tonight," she admitted with a little blush. Both Katara and Ty Lee squealed excitedly and attempted to hug her, but she simply stepped out of the way as they crashed into each other. Katara didn't look too happy, but Ty Lee wasn't fazed at all, as she had become accustomed to this long ago.

"That's so exciting!" Ty Lee cheered as she stood next to her friend. "Where's he taking you? How do you know he might propose?" She kept asking a lot of questions that Mai couldn't quite discern from Ty Lee talking too fast, so she decided to step in.

"Ty!" she exclaimed exasperatedly with a huff as she totaled up Katara's groceries. "Look, I just heard him talking to a friend of his on the phone and said he had some big plans for tonight. For all I know, he might just want to ask me to try anal."

Katara was disgusted at the thought, but she shook it off and got back to the topic at hand. "Oh come on, Mai. What restaurant is he taking you to?"

Mai was silent for a moment, not wanting to get her hopes up, but she finally gave in with a sigh. "He's taking me to the place we went to on our first date," she finally admitted, making them both gasp again.

"He's going to propose!" Ty Lee squealed again and jumped up and down excitedly before she realized she didn't know who Katara was. "Hi. Obviously you're a friend of Mai's. I'm Ty Lee," she greeted her with a genuine smile.

"Katara," she smiled back and stuck out her hand which Ty Lee quickly shook before returning her attention to Mai.

"Well… What are you going to wear? Oh! What are you going to say?" Mai was getting more and more annoyed by her friend, but she knew this was all coming from a place of love, so she decided to let it go with a sigh as she took the money from Katara.

"I don't know, and… if he does ask me, then I'll obviously say yes," she admitted with a blush. Ty Lee looked like she was about to burst with happiness, so she decided to do practically anything to get the attention off of her as she looked over to Katara. "So what about you, Katara?"

Katara looked confused for a moment. "What do you mean?"

Mai rolled her eyes at her friend. Sometimes she felt like she was the only smart one in her group of friends. "I mean, what about your romantic-" she cut herself off as she remembered the situation Katara was in, hoping that she hadn't done anything to make Katara upset. Not that she cared of course.

Katara noticed her discomfort and waved it off. "Hey, don't worry about it. I'm not sad anymore."

Mai looked at her incredulously, not expecting Katara to be over it so quickly. If she found out Zuko had been cheating on her, though she would never admit it to _anyone_, she would be a wreck. "You're not?" Mai asked a little dumbfoundedly.

Katara laughed at her friend's surprise and nodded with a big smile on her face. "Oh yeah, I don't care anymore. Jet was a jerk who didn't deserve me."

Taking a closer look at her, Mai tried to figure out what had gotten Katara to be over Jet so quickly when a thought came to mind. "You met someone, didn't you?" she asked suspiciously.

Blushing a little, Katara looked away with a shrug. "I don't know what you're talking about," she attempted to be nonchalant but failed rather miserably. Mai didn't buy it for a second. Even if they weren't the closest of friends, Mai knew her enough to know when she was hiding something. And this was certainly no exception.

"Kat," she said in a warning tone, making Katara completely surprised. Mai had never once called her "Kat", so it made her completely focused on her friend, never expecting to hear that in her life. "I know you're hiding something. You met someone, didn't you." It was no longer a question.

Katara was reluctant, but she knew she had been caught and let out a long sigh before she nodded. "Maybe…" she admitted with a small smile.

Ty Lee, though having known her for less than five minutes, loved gossip and jumped in on this. "Ooh! Who is he? Is he cute? What's his deal?"

"Ty!" Mai barked, making Ty Lee instantly stop as she backed away for a second. Mai gave her an apologetic look before she looked back to Katara. "She's right though. Who's this guy who's already made you forget about Jet?"

Katara smiled widely as she thought about him. "He's this guy I met at a bar last night. He's really nice and funny, and…" she sighed happily, just thinking about him made her feel all giddy inside. She wasn't one to let someone do this to her, but with him, she just couldn't help it. He wasn't like any other guy she had met before, and she couldn't wait to see him later.

"You had sex, didn't you?" Mai asked bluntly. Katara blushed heavily, making Mai smirk as she leaned against the counter behind her. "Yeah, I thought so," she smirked even more smugly.

"Fine, we did," she admitted but shook her head quickly. "But that's not why I like him so much. He's truly unique. I've never met a guy like him before."

Mai rolled her eyes. "Whatever. If it means that you're not going to be crying all the time over Jet, then I'm good with it." Katara didn't remember asking for her approval, but she knew how her friend could be at times, so she decided to shrug it off. "So, when are you going to see him again?"

"Tonight," she responded happily. "He's taking me to a nice restaurant in town." She struggled to remember what it was called. "The… Jasmine Dragon?" she asked herself more than them.

Mai's eyes widened in surprise. "You guys are going to the Jasmine Dragon?" Katara nodded more confidently, now remembering the name that she had somehow forgotten. "That's where Zuko's taking me." She gave Katara the most serious look she could muster. "If you ruin this for me, I will kill you." Katara wanted to laugh, but she knew her enough by now to know that she was absolutely serious.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything to interrupt you guys," she promised with a nervous laugh, remembering the shurikens Mai kept on her person at all times. It amazed her how she managed to get away with it. The store she worked at had metal detectors, having had a few times where they had been robbed, but Mai still managed to sneak it in somehow. Though how, Katara could not figure out.

"Good," Mai nodded before she let out a yawn. There was a small cough from behind them, and they turned around quickly to see a familiar old woman there.

"If you're done there, would you mind letting me get my groceries paid for?" she asked sweetly, but Katara could see the annoyance burning in her eyes.

"Of course," Katara smiled and stepped out of the way. "I'll see you later, Mai," she waved goodbye before she finally exited the store, feeling slightly relieved. She knew Hama back from when she was younger. Hama was the sweet, elderly woman in her neighborhood that everyone knew, but everyone knew that there was something she was hiding. No matter what anyone did, there was always a certain disdain in her eyes that no one knew what it was.

Shaking these thoughts from her mind, she went to her car and put all of the groceries in the trunk, happily thinking about him again. She couldn't wait to see him again. And maybe they could… do _that_ again.

She didn't want to sound like a whore or anything, but she had _really_ enjoyed their activities the night before. And he was _really_ good. Dirty thoughts continued through her mind until she felt her panties start to soak, so she shut the trunk rather quickly and got in her car to distract herself. The last thing she needed was to have to change her underwear because she was thinking about him.

As she drove home, her phone started ringing, making her surprised. Looking at it, she was happy to see that it was Aang. "Hello?"

"Hey, Katara," Aang greeted her happily. "How's it going?"

She smiled and tried not to show how happy she was that he had called. "Oh, I'm fine. Just getting some groceries for my family. They go through groceries like they haven't eaten in weeks. Most people get groceries once a week, but I usually end up going three times a week."

"Wow," he laughed, making her laugh as well. She absolutely loved his laugh. "It sounds like they exercise a lot." She thought about it and remembered that her father currently had a bit of a beer belly. Nothing over the top, but still, he certainly hadn't been exercising that much.

"No, they just both have the appetite of a seventeen year old," she laughed back. "But it's okay. They're giving me a place to stay until I can get my own place."

"Why is your brother still living with your father?" Aang wondered.

Katara shrugged, but then realized that he couldn't see it and spoke. "I don't really know, but I think it's because he knows my dad is lonely. But I think my dad would rather be alone. Sokka brings his girlfriend there, and from what my dad told me, they're _never_ quiet."

Aang cringed as he heard it, though he supposed he had no right to judge. After all, he and Katara had been pretty loud the night before. "Well, hopefully your dad doesn't hear them _too_ much." Then he was reminded as to why he had called. "So, are we still on for our date tonight?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course we are," Katara laughed a little, finding it cute that he still didn't quite seem to believe that she had agreed to go out on a date with him when a question came to mind. "Wait, if you run your bar, who's running it tonight?"

"Oh, I don't run it much myself," he admitted with a sigh. "I've got an employee here who does most of the actual bar tending. I just have to work on the days that they have off."

"Oh, that makes sense. But why do you sound like you don't really like this person?" she asked curiously, hearing the tiny amount of what she assumed was disdain in his voice.

Judging by how quickly he was talking, Katara could only assume that he was embarrassed as the words came tumbling out of his mouth. "What? No! It's not that I don't like them, it's just that..." he let out a frustrated sigh. "It's just that, this employee of mine has a bit of a crush on me."

Katara raised a brow as she took a turn into her neighborhood. "Anybody I should be worried about?" she asked playfully, though secretly a little worried. Not that she would ever admit that in a million years.

"No, no! Not at all!" he assured her, making her smile that he wanted her to not be worried at all about someone else. "Although I _do_ think she's pretty, if I'm being honest, she's a little too… how do I put this nicely…" he trailed off as he thought about it. "Stalker-ish?" he finally decided.

Katara raised a brow. "How so?" she asked curiously, now not worried at all. Not many people were wanting to date someone who was caught stalking them. And from what she knew of Aang, though he was very respectful to others, he was also a sort of "go with the flow" kind of guy. And a stalker most certainly was not "go with the flow".

"Well…" he started nervously, making her laugh a little at his innocence. He truly was one of a kind. She had never met a guy like him before. Most people had no problem insulting other people, but Aang was truly struggling with finding the right words that told the truth but didn't belittle whoever this girl was. "Let's just say that I've caught her several times following me back up to my 'condo' or whatever you want to call it. If it was slow enough, she would sneak in and try to peek at me while I was in the shower or if I was working out or something," he finally decided to just let it all out. Katara's eyebrows raised in surprise, not expecting to hear this level of stalker, but she shook it off and returned to their conversation.

"Wow," she breathed in disbelief. "That's… kind of insane."

"Yeah, I know," he sighed, and she could hear how tired he was from having to deal with it.

"Why don't you just fire her?" she wondered. "You could easily find another bartender to help you." She laughed a little as she thought about it. "You could even get a restraining order if you're really sick of it."

A long sigh erupted over the phone. "As much as I'd love to be free of her stalking, I can't do that. She is an excellent bartender and a nice person, she just doesn't know how to…" he struggled with the words.

"Act like a normal person?" Katara supplied helpfully.

He laughed a little and let out another sigh. "Yeah, that," he agreed before he resumed his thought process. "But like I said, she's an excellent bartender and she's found it hard to get a job. Likely because she's been caught stalking people she's liked before."

Katara couldn't help but admire him even more. He was willing to let a stalker invade his personal life if it meant that she would have the means to make a living for herself, even if that meant that he wouldn't get to live as comfortably as he would like to. She hadn't even known him for that long, but he had already amazed her at how selfless he was. He had even tried to talk her out of having sex. The thing that most men would beg for, because he didn't want her to regret it. Fortunately for him, she didn't regret their night together one bit.

"I guess I can understand that," she admitted somewhat reluctantly, imagining herself in that situation and knowing that she likely wouldn't be able to deal with a stalker working for her. "But still. Can't you just tell her to stop?"

"I tried," he told her with obvious irritation in his voice. A beep could be heard from his end of the line. "Oh! Katara, I'd love to talk more, but I've got something else I need to take care of. But I'll be there at eight to pick you up. Sound good?"

Katara wondered what else he had to do, but she shrugged it off. "Yep. Sounds good," she agreed. "I'll see you later, Aang."

"Bye."

"Bye." She hung up the phone and let out a happy sigh, but she couldn't help but wonder what he had to do. _Oh relax. It's probably just a business meeting for his bar. Not everything is a secret_, she reminded herself. Shaking these thoughts from her mind, she drove home and got ready for her date with a smile on her face.

* * *

A few hours later, Katara was all ready to go for her date with Aang. She had made sure to wear her best dress, and if things went as she wanted them to, it would end up on the ground in his room later that night. Smiling at the thought, she checked her hair in the mirror one last time and, once she was satisfied, made her way downstairs where her brother was waiting for her with a slightly angry look on his face.

"What do you want, Sokka?" Katara sighed in annoyance as she moved over to the cubby that held their shoes and sat down to put them on.

"Oh nothing," he smiled innocently, but Katara could see right through him. He wanted something, but she wasn't sure exactly what. Then it hit her. He wanted to meet Aang.

"No, Sokka!" she objected without him even having to tell her his plan. "I'm going on a date, I'm not marrying the guy. You are _not_ talking to him."

Even if she was insistent on this, she knew better than to expect him to give into her so easily. "I don't think so! You're not going anywhere until I've met him, and that's that."

Katara rolled her eyes, doing her best not to flick him on the head as she usually did when he was being annoying. With some work, she managed to cool off her temper enough so that she trusted herself not to do anything.

"Sokka, it's just a date," she insisted more forcefully. "If it goes beyond that, you can talk to him all you want, but right now, I'm waiting to see how this one goes."

Sokka didn't believe her for a second. He could tell that she really liked this guy, and that pretty much meant that unless this guy royally messed up, they were going to go on a second date. "Katara, just let me talk to the guy. For one minute," he added quickly when he saw that she was going to object. Katara pondered this for a moment before she looked up at him.

"Why do you need to talk to him so bad, Sokka?" she questioned, knowing exactly why he wanted to, but if she was going to allow him to do this, she wanted to make him squirm a little.

"You know exactly why," he shot back with his arms crossed over his chest. "I want to make sure that this guy isn't going to turn out like…"

"Like Jet?" Katara answered for him sweetly. Sokka didn't respond, just continued to stare down at his feet. Katara let out a little sigh and got up on her feet. "Sokka, I told you, I'm over it. Jet was a jerk who doesn't deserve to be with anyone. Aang is _nothing _like him." _Except that he's just as handsome and charming, if not more_, she thought happily.

Sokka looked her in the eyes and finally gave up with a sigh. "Okay, fine. I believe you," he told her, making her smile triumphantly before he continued. "But I still want to meet the guy."

Katara's eye twitched a little, but she knew just how stubborn her brother could be at times and finally gave in with a sigh of her own. "Fine. You get _one_ minute to talk to him, and then we're going on our date. Deal?"

"Deal," Sokka agreed with a smile before they both heard a car horn honk, signaling that Aang had arrived. Smiling happily, Katara didn't hesitate and opened the door as Aang stood in front of the car on the side of the street.

"Wow," he breathed as she walked up to him with a faint rosy blush on his cheeks. "You look beautiful."

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks." Dreading this next part but knowing that there was no way of getting out of it, she then turned to her brother. "Aang, this is my brother, Sokka. Sokka, this is Aang, my…" she blushed before she pulled herself together. "Um… date."

Sokka was silent for a moment, taking Aang in for a moment as Aang looked at Katara nervously. There was an unspoken question in his eyes: _Is he going to kill me?_ Katara's eyes danced in amusement as she gave him a reassuring smile before Sokka finally stuck his hand out.

"Nice to meet you, Aang," he greeted him not unkindly. "I'm Sokka, Katara's brother."

Aang took his hand and shook it firmly, noticing how Sokka was squeezing a little tighter than was truly necessary. A clear warning: _Hurt my sister, and I will hurt you._ Clearing his throat, he nodded quickly. "Nice to meet you too, Sokka."

There was awkward silence for a moment as Sokka stared him down before the minute that Katara had finally agreed to run out. "Alright! Let's go, Aang!" She waved to her brother as Aang opened the door for her, making her smile as she climbed in and watched as Aang made his way to the driver's side and started up the car. Aang gulped a little as he saw that Sokka was still glaring at him, but Sokka finally decided to go back inside, much to Aang's relief as he drove away.

"Sorry about that," Katara apologized sheepishly as she saw the slightly frightened look on his face. "Sokka's been over-protective of me since… high school, if I remember correctly."

Finally snapping out of his fear, he looked at her with a soft smile. "It's okay. I understand. I would probably be protective too if I had a sister as beautiful as you." Katara blushed and smiled at his compliment, feeling like the more she talked to him was like easing into a hot tub after a long day of work.

Before long, they were finally at the restaurant as Aang pulled into the parking lot and held the door open for her. "Shall we?" he asked with a smile. She smiled back and took his hand as they made their way inside, her gasping at how beautiful the place was. If the place wasn't so… _red_, she would have thought it to be the most beautiful restaurant she had ever seen. But, because she wasn't very fond of the color, she thought of it as _one_ of the most beautiful restaurants she had ever seen.

Making their way to a podium, they were greeted by an old friend. "Ah, Mr. White! It's nice to see you again!" He noticed Katara and smiled slyly. "And who is this lovely lady?"

Aang smiled and gave him a quick hug. "It's nice to see you again, Iroh. You know you can call me Aang. And this," he gestured to Katara with a smile. "Is Katara Aqua. She's my date for the evening."

"Well, it seems you have good taste, my friend," he murmured to him before he got some menus from the podium and gestured for them to follow. Before long, he led them over to a nice table that they had set up for them in a corner of the room. A lit candle adorned the middle of the lavish wooden table that was covered by a beautiful piece of linen cloth with some of the most expensive looking tableware Katara had ever seen.

"Wow," she breathed, finding it hard to believe that all this was set up for her. The most Jet had ever done for her was take her to a chinese restaurant with a dinky chandelier, and that was on their one year anniversary. Aang took her here, on their _first date_.

Aang smiled and pulled out the chair for her, making her smile as she sat down in it and waited for him to sit down as well. Iroh handed them their menus as they looked. "What can I start you off to drink with?" he inquired.

Katara thought about it for a moment and realized it had been a while since she had some wine. "One glass of merlot, please," she requested politely.

Iroh smiled and nodded before looking at Aang. "You already know what I want, Iroh," Aang chuckled as he handed him his menu.

"Yes, I do," he chuckled back before he left to get them their drinks. Aang turned back to his date with a warm smile, making Katara feel like she was melting on the spot.

"So, you know him, do you?" she asked curiously.

Aang laughed a little. "Yeah, I do. He was a friend of my father's before he died. I've known him since I was little. He's basically like the fun uncle I never had."

Katara smiled at the thought. "Well, he seems like he's a nice guy. Is he how you got in this place? I've heard it's the most exclusive place in the city."

Aang nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. He owns the place, so he can have whoever he wants in it when he wants."

Katara looked at him in surprise. "He's the owner of the place?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yeah…" Aang scratched his head in confusion. "Why?"

"I don't know, I just didn't really expect the owner of a restaurant to be a waiter," she admitted with a shrug. "It just doesn't seem like something a lot of owners do, if any."

Aang smiled as he thought of his friend. "Yeah, but Iroh's not like any other business owner. Iroh loves to help people, especially with this tea."

"Oh, so that's why he named it the Jasmine Dragon, huh?"

"Yep. He loves his tea." He leaned in closer, pretending as if what he was about to say next was top secret. "Truth be told, I think he loves it more than his own nephew."

Katara couldn't help but burst out laughing at hearing this, making a few people around the room look at them, but soon returned to their meals as Katara blushed in embarrassment. "Oops," she murmured in embarrassment.

Aang smirked and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, Katara. You're not the only one to get in trouble for laughing randomly." Katara smiled and was about to ask him more as Iroh came back with their drinks.

"One merlot for the lady and one champagne for the gentleman," Iroh told them as he set it down in front of them. "Have you decided what you would like yet, Miss?"

Katara nodded with a smile, happy that she found what she had been hoping for on the list. "I'll take some sea prunes, please."

Iroh smiled and nodded. "Of course. I'll be back in just a moment." With that, he took his leave and left the couple in a comfortable silence as they looked back at each other.

"He's a really nice guy," Katara felt she should tell him, making him smile.

"Yeah, he is. And he is also very astute at being able to tell how people are. If he hasn't found anything wrong with you yet, then that means he's not going to, so I can tell that he likes you," he replied with a charming smile, making her heart melt a little. Looking over to his left, he smiled as he saw his friend. "If you look over there," he pointed in their direction. "You can see my friend, sweaty and nervous because he's about to do one of the most important things in his life."

"What's that?" Katara asked curiously as she took a sip of her merlot.

"Proposing to the girl he loves," he laughed a little as he noticed Zuko was fumbling with the box in his pocket, his nerves shaking his entire body.

Katara laughed a little but gasped as she finally recognized the couple that was sitting there. "That's Mai and Zuko!" she exclaimed in surprise, completely forgetting that Mai had told her that they would be there that night.

Aang looked at her in surprise. "You know them?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Mai's my friend," she smiled as she noticed how nervous her friend was. Her face didn't betray her, but every other part of her did, Katara thought with a smirk as she saw her legs shaking under the table. They watched as Zuko noticeably took a deep breath and stood up, walking over to her side and getting down on one knee, making Mai gasp.

Aang looked at Katara quickly. "Do you-"

"Absolutely," Katara agreed just as quickly and they got up to get a better look. After Zuko finally got the nerve to ask, Mai agreed quickly and they kissed. "Awww," Katara smiled in adoration at the happy couple. _Maybe that'll be me and Aang one day…_ she thought hopefully.

A scream came out of nowhere as Zuko and Mai quickly split apart, looking around to see what on Earth was going on.

"No, no, no," Aang muttered to himself as he looked around wildly. "Not right now. _Please_ not right now."

Katara looked at him with concern etched deeply on her face. "What's going on?" Before Aang could respond, a man in a black trench coat with a hood hanging low over his face came into view.

"You will die," the man promised as he pointed the gun at Zuko who moved Mai out of the way to make sure that she was safe. Katara looked over to Aang, wondering if there was anything they could do, but he wasn't there.

Then the lights went out.

"What the hell happened?!" the mysterious man cried in outrage in a foreign accent that Katara couldn't place. There was pure silence for a moment before there was a gunshot. Fearing the worst, Katara ducked under a table that she could just barely see in the moonlight shining through the window. After a few moments, the lights turned back on as Aang came rushing over to her.

"Katara, are you okay?" he asked in concern as he helped her up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him before a thought struck her. "Where did you go?" Before he could answer, there was a horrified gasp by some of the other customers as they looked upon the dead body of the mysterious man with a hole in his heart.

* * *

**Okay! Thank you guys for reading this continuation of the story! I know that this probably wasn't what you guys were expecting, but this idea just popped into my mind and I think I can make a good story out of it. Rest assured, there will still be good romance and some elements of the first chapter in it, but this idea seemed too good to pass on instead of just having another sappy love story. Rest assured, there will be more of those, but I really like this idea and want to see where I can take it. Anyway, thank you guys for reading and I'll talk to you all later!**


	3. Truth in Lies

Chapter 3: Truth in Lies

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

* * *

Katara gasped as she witnessed the gruesome sight before her. Though she knew nothing of this man, even being threatened by his temporary presence in the building, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She knew he was about to kill Zuko, but the sight of anyone dying made her a little sad. It reminded her of how easily her mother was killed.

Aang looked over at her with deep concern on his face, seeing the look of pure horror that had overcome hers. He knew that look well, as it was the look he had on his face years ago when his parents had died…

Knowing there wasn't much he could do, he wrapped her in a hug, doing his best to pour his comfort into her as the look of utter shock remained on her face. She sunk into the comfort he gave off before the question she had asked him before came back to mind. "Where did you go?" she whispered, not wanting to speak too loudly as the rest of the room were in quiet conversations themselves, everyone talking about the same thing.

"I went to go get help, but then the lights turned off," he whispered into her ear, causing a shiver to go down her spine. "Then I heard a gunshot and I ran back here to make sure that you were okay." He let out a shaky breath. "I'm sorry I ran out on you. I should have been here in case something happened."

Katara looked over her shoulder and into his eyes. "It's okay, Aang. I probably would have done the same." She looked back over to the dead body. "I just can't believe someone actually died right here," she murmured, still feeling horrified at the thought. Then she remembered something else. Something from before the man had come into the room. _No, no, no, _Aang's worried voice replayed in her mind. _Not right now. _Please _not right now._ She looked at Aang in concern. Why did he seem to know that something was going to happen? This made her worried. Was he who she thought he was?

Before she could go further in her thoughts, Zuko and Mai finally got over their shock enough and saw their friends in a similar state. Walking over to them quickly, Zuko nodded to Aang while Mai awkwardly gave Katara a hug.

"Are you guys okay?" Zuko asked in concern, seeing the multiple emotions going over Katara's face.

Aang looked at him in disbelief. "You're asking if _we're _okay? You're the one who almost got shot!" he exclaimed.

Zuko took a shaky breath. "Yeah, I wasn't really a fan of that either, but I'm fine." He looked over to his love and now fiance. "Are you okay, Mai?"

Mai tried to roll her eyes, but she too couldn't hide the fear that had taken over her as the man came in the room. "Yeah," she finally sighed. "I'm just glad it's over with."

Zuko nodded and kissed her cheek before looking back over to Aang. "Do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?" It wasn't a question.

Aang nodded and looked at Katara. "Do you think you'll be okay if I go talk to Zuko for a minute? I'll be right back," he promised, seeing that Katara clearly didn't want to be alone right now. Katara was hesitant. She wanted Aang to comfort her right now, but then again, she wasn't sure she knew who Aang even was. He seemed to be hiding something, and she had no clue what. He knew that something like this was going to happen, but how could he have known? Deciding on it, she nodded mutely as he kissed her cheek, making her unconsciously blush. "I'll be right back," he promised again before he nodded to Zuko and followed him out of the room.

Katara looked over to Mai, hoping to get some answers that her friend might be able to provide. "Mai?"

Mai was once again looking at the horrific scene, shocked to the core that such a thing had happened there, but eventually turned her head to look at her friend. "Yeah?"

Katara fiddled with her fingers a little nervously, feeling a little ridiculous asking this, but she knew it would bug her if she didn't try. "Well… before the whole thing went down, Aang seemed to know what was going to happen. And just now, Zuko seems like he knows about whatever it was, too. Do you… know anything about what's going on?" she finally questioned.

A moment of silence passed between them before Mai finally spoke. "It's not really my place to say. All I can really tell you is that they both have a… job," she finally finished lamely.

The blue-eyed beauty raised her eyebrow quizzically. "A job? But Aang owns a bar?" she said in confusion, wondering what kind of job would let Aang be able to tell when something like this would happen.

Mai just waved off her question. "I'm sorry, Katara, but I can't say anything else. You'll have to ask your date if you want to know more."

Katara looked like she wanted to argue more, but she could tell by the look in Mai's eye that she wasn't going to accept any more questions, so she gave up with a defeated sigh. A few moments later, Aang and Zuko walked back into the room, looking more resolved than they had when they left to talk.

"Sorry about that," Aang apologized as he walked up to his date. "Zuko just needed someone to calm him down after almost being killed."

Not being sure whether to believe him or not, she simply shrugged. "Okay." A moment later, the police finally arrived and looked around the crime scene. One in particular, Katara noticed, seemed to recognize Aang and walked up to him.

"Good evening," he greeted them grimly, having just witnessed the dead body in question. "Do you mind if I ask you guys some questions about what happened here tonight?"

Aang looked questioningly to Katara, who, still somewhat dazed and confused nodded before looking back to the officer. "Of course. Ask away."

The officer nodded and opened a notepad. "Would you mind describing what exactly happened here?"

Aang took a moment to choose his words carefully. "Well… Me and Katara here were watching our friends as they got engaged," he gestured to Zuko who was talking to Mai in a corner of the room. "Then we heard a scream from another part of the restaurant. Then that man," he pointed to the dead body. "Walked in and aimed a gun at him, saying, 'You will die'. Then the lights went out and went back on moments later to reveal him dead."

The officer nodded and wrote everything down as Aang leaned into him. "It sure is a beautiful night, isn't it?"

"It is," he agreed, looking at him closely, almost as if he was expecting something. "Have you ever seen a more beautiful night than this?"

"Only once," Aang replied with a smile, but his eyes held a look of seriousness that Katara didn't understand. "On a late night in Bolivia." Understanding filled the officer's eyes as he nodded and put the notepad in his pocket.

"Alright. Thank you both for your testament. We will contact you if we have any more questions." He gave Aang a sharp nod, a message in his eyes that Katara couldn't quite decipher, but then quickly walked away, leaving her wondering what in the world was going on.

Aang then turned and gave her an apologetic smile "Sorry, he's an old friend of mine, but he pretends like he doesn't know his friends when he's on the job." Katara was becoming more and more worried as time passed, but before anything could happen, Zuko walked up to him again.

"We've got to get going," he told him regretfully. "After all, it's not everyday that one gets engaged. That, and it's not everyday that the engagement is almost ruined by a maniac," he laughed a little before he clasped Aang on the shoulder. "Be careful out there."

"I'm not the one you should be worried about. I can handle myself," he assured him with a smile. Zuko smiled back and nodded before taking Mai by the hand and walking out of sight as Aang turned back to Katara.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I think I've had enough excitement for one night," he laughed a little grimly. "Do you just want to go home?"

Katara was silent for a moment. She didn't want to abandon their date, but if not because of the dead body that was currently being investigated, then because she wasn't sure she knew who Aang even was. Something strange was going on. Mai had told her that he had a 'job', but what this job was, Katara couldn't quite figure out. It didn't seem to be a regular job, as Aang seemed to know that something bad was going to happen before the man had walked in. Nodding slowly, Aang saw the discomfort and wariness on her face and reluctantly led the way, feeling bad that she was going through this.

_Does she know?_ He wondered. _No, she can't know, but… she seems a little more distant than she was before. She heard me mumbling to myself. Should I just tell her? _He shook his head at himself. _I can't tell her. No one can know._ As much as he knew he shouldn't, he also knew he really liked Katara, and he didn't want to give her up because of his 'job'.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the car door and watched as she slid in, just staring forward in pure silence as he made his way over to the driver's side. Starting up the car, he looked over at her and saw the same expression on her face, completely unchanged. The guilt was starting to get him, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could go without telling her.

"So," he started awkwardly as he drove down main street. "Besides… what happened… Did you have a good time?" he asked hopefully.

Katara remained silent, doing her best not to let her fears and confusion get the best of her, but she just couldn't take it anymore. Something was going on, and although she liked Aang a lot, she needed to know who her date truly was.

"Who are you, really?" she finally asked him seriously, making his head snap to her in surprise for a second before he resumed his focus on the road. Katara took a deep, calming breath before she trusted herself to speak again. "I know something's up, Aang. Mai told me that you have a 'job'." Aang mentally cursed Mai for giving that up. Katara was silent for another moment before she glanced at him. "I really like you, Aang, but I can't be with someone who's hiding something from me. Please, just tell me what's going on."

Aang was silent for a moment, eyes slightly downcast as he focused on the road. "You wouldn't believe me," he murmured, knowing that if he told her, Katara would probably never want to talk to him again even if she did believe him.

"Try me," she invited. Aang was still hesitant, and Katara was losing her patience. "Aang, you were my first. Don't you think that I deserve to know why my date seemed to know that his friend was going to be attacked?"

After one more moment of silence, he sighed and pulled over to the side of the road, ensuring that they were in a quiet spot where no one would disturb them. Once he was satisfied, he took one last deep breath and turned to look at her. "Okay, I know you're probably going to think I'm crazy, but… I'm a sort of spy," he finally admitted.

Katara looked at him in disbelief for a second before she nodded. "You're right. I don't believe you." Just as Aang was about to respond, a man in a trench coat similar to the one at the restaurant stood outside Aang's door. Unfortunately for Aang, he had forgotten to lock the door and was dragged out of his seat, much to Katara's surprise. "Aang!" she yelled, now fully believing him as the man held him to the ground. Never being one afraid of a fight, she got out and ran over to the hooded man, not hesitating to push him off of her date.

Aang quickly used this distraction to get up on his feet and into a fighting stance, now over his shock. The man regained his stance as well, but Aang was too quick. Diving forward, Aang tripped him off of his feet and pinned him to the ground. "You know I don't want to do this, Zhao," Aang muttered to him.

Zhao chuckled darkly as Aang's knee dug deeper in his chest, making him gasp a little. "I don't want to either, but you know as well as I do that your friend is a traitor. Who else would tell _his _family where our base was located?"

"What on Earth is going on here?" Katara asked in exasperation.

Zhao looked at her from under his hood. "It's none of your business, lady," he told her before Aang helped him back onto his feet. "Look, you know that I don't want to do this, but your friend betrayed us. If you help me take him in, then you can stay in the Order."

Aang shook his head. "You know I can't do that, Zhao. Zuko didn't do it, and I'm working on proving it. I've been tracking down the person who did."

"What do you mean?" Zhao questioned him skeptically as he brushed off his coat. "Do you have actual evidence that it was someone else who leaked the location?"

"Not enough evidence yet," Aang admitted. "But when I heard about what happened, I thought that there might be a hacker, and after some searching through our security, I found out we've been hacked."

"Yeah," Zhao growled a little. "By your 'friend'. The one who betrayed us."

Aang shook his head. "If there was a hack in our system by one of our teammates, all they would have to do is do it from our own equipment. This hack came from somewhere in this city, but not in one of our bases."

Zhao looked at him in surprise. "Really?" Aang nodded. Pondering this for a few moments, Zhao finally nodded. "Very well. I will try to reason with the council, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. If you're going to prove your friend's innocence, you're going to have to track down whoever this hacker is and bring them to the council. We lost too many of our members to let this go unanswered."

Aang nodded in acceptance. "Of course. I can do that. If you want, I can take you back to my base and show you what I found," he offered.

Zhao shook his head. "No, I believe you. Besides, I need to go talk with my fellow council members to make sure that they don't continue to hunt you down." He looked down sadly. "It's a shame about Bryant, isn't it?"

"It is," Aang agreed sadly. "But he shouldn't have taken this personally. I get he lost some friends, but he knew better than to go after someone without the council's permission."

"But he _did_ have the council's permission," Zhao informed him without much remorse. "Did you think that they wouldn't have him on our list?"

Aang silently cursed and nodded. "I knew, but I was hoping that, since there's no evidence, they would at least wait a little longer before they put him on their list."

Zhao shook his head grimly. "No, they didn't, I'm afraid. You may want to warn your friend, otherwise it will likely cost him his life."

"Okay," he sighed in resignation. "Thank you for letting me know. I promise, once I've figured out more about the leak, I'll be in touch."

"Good. Make sure you do that," Zhao playfully ordered before he started walking away to a street light. Looking around, he pressed a few buttons on it and took a step back as an entrance slid open. Sizing it up, he jumped down as the entrance closed behind him.

Katara's head was going a million miles a minute. So Aang was a spy… or something. From what she had heard of spies, they didn't quite have kill lists, so she doubted Aang was an official spy. Tired of being confused, she looked back at Aang and got straight to it. "Okay, seriously. Who are you? Is your name even Aang?" she challenged.

Aang put his hands up in a pleading gesture, trying to show her how sorry he was in his eyes. "Yes, my name really is Aang." Taking a deep breath, he continued. "What I told you about my life is true, just not the full truth." He paused for a second and gathered his words the best he could. "My parents _were_ killed, but they weren't mugged. They were killed by our enemies. They _did _own this bar and passed it down to me when they died. Everything else I told you about me is true. I do choose to keep the bar because of my parents, but the other reason why is because… that's where my base is," he admitted reluctantly.

Katara wasn't anywhere close to feeling better, but she motioned for him to continue. "Look," he sighed sadly. "I get it if you don't want to see me anymore, but-"

"Show me."

He looked at her in an odd mix of surprise and confusion. "What?"

"Show me your base," she expanded, "and if I see that this is all real and that you can explain to me about everything, then we'll see."

Aang was hesitant, but… he really liked Katara. That, and she already knew about most of his 'job' that he had told her. He had gone this far, he figured. He might as well finish it off, one way or another. "Okay," he sighed and walked back into the car as she returned to her seat. Before long, they were at his bar, with it filled to the brim with people. After all, it _was_ a friday night.

Walking in slowly, he attempted to sneak past everyone, but one of the partiers heard his footsteps. "Aang!" the drunken man exclaimed. "Are you here to party?"

Aang gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry Frank, I need to do something."

"More like do _someone_!" Frank hollered, clearly indicating Katara who blushed, being reminded of her previous thoughts from earlier as everyone else but Aang and his bartender laughed with him.

"Oh, you don't need to do _her_," his bartender, a beautiful blonde in a red flannel and jeans winked at him. "Why settle for less when you can have me?"

Katara, despite everything that had happened, became insanely jealous and was about to go over and tell her off, but Aang held her back as she looked at him in surprise. "No, Kat," he whispered, making her heart beat faster against her will at his nickname for her before he turned back to his employee. "Sorry Jenny, but you know that I don't date my employees."

"I'll quit right now," she offered as she served a man his drink.

"Sorry Jenny, but it's not going to happen," he said quickly before he started running up the stairs with Katara right behind him. "Have fun, everybody!"

There were some hollers in response, but Aang shut the door and locked it behind him before anyone else could say anything to him.

"Phew," he breathed in relief. "Glad that's over." He then remembered that Katara was there and the reason why she had followed him home. "Okay, so my base…" he trailed off thoughtfully as he walked over to the end of the hallway. Katara seriously wondered for a minute if he was going to go into his room to seduce her, and considering everything that had happened that night, some stress relief was starting to sound _really _good at the moment. However, he stopped in front of the wall at the end of the hallway and made sure that she was behind him as he pushed in a portion of it to reveal a security pad, making Katara's eyes widen. Quickly punching in a code, the wall split apart to reveal an elevator. Katara gasped, but stepped in as Aang sent it down, making it go down further than Katara had imagined it could go until it finally arrived with a _ding!_

The elevator doors opened to reveal a large room with several computer monitors scattered throughout it, all of the technology appearing to be the best of it's kind. There were papers everywhere, security footage, and from what Katara could see appeared to be a list of what she could only assume were enemies.

"So as you can see, I do actually have a base," Aang finally said as he gestured to the room. "This is where I do all of my… work."

"And what exactly is your work?" Katara questioned him.

He took a moment to think about how to put it in the best words possible as he sat down in his chair and invited her to do the same. "Well… I guess I should probably start with my Order and why we're here," he began thoughtfully. "The group of people I work with are dedicated to preserving the freedom of the people in this city, and to those in the other cities we've branched out to."

Katara raised a brow. "Like that lame Assassin's Creed game?" she asked doubtfully.

He laughed a little and shook his head. "No, no. Not that," he assured her. "Or at least, there's no Assassins and Templars or anything like that. We're just people who've seen how the wealthy try to rule over the poor and won't stand for it." He laughed a little. "It's actually kind of ironic."

"What is?" Katara asked curiously.

"Well, some of our members are wealthy, but still choose to fight anyway. Like the man who attacked me earlier. Zhao," he explained. "He's rich. He even used to be an admiral, but he saw firsthand what people like Ozai Agni do to us and decided to fight against him, even though he used to work for him."

Katara looked at him in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah," he laughed a little before he got back on topic. "But anyway, the Order has been working against corrupt rich families and politicians for the last couple hundred years. I was born into it, but I made the choice to do it when my parents died. They showed me how this city was being abused and I decided that I wanted to do something to help."

Katara begrudgingly had to admit that she admired him for that, once again proving just how selfless he was. "Okay, but why do you have a kill list? Can't you just try to talk them out of it?"

Aang sighed and nodded slightly. "Yeah, we've tried. Even in some rare cases, the people on our lists have agreed, but they never kept their word and paid for it with their lives."

"How many people have you killed?" she questioned seriously, wanting to know if he was psychotic.

He thought about it for a moment. "I don't really know how many, but more than I would ever want to kill, which is none. But I just don't see any other way."

"Why don't you report them to the police? Let them handle it instead of getting blood on your hands?"

"Because they can't do much either," he shrugged simply. "We have some friends in the force, but there's never enough evidence to put them away, and they have their own people in the force as well. Believe me, we've tried that route too."

Katara took a moment to let it all sink in. So she had gone on a date with a killer. Not a psychotic killer, but still, a killer. But she knew the real question was, could she continue dating him knowing what he chose to do? What if his life messed with hers? Looking into his eyes, she saw how sorry he was and made her decision as she kissed him.

He was surprised, but kissed her back for a few moments before they pulled apart. "So… does that mean…" he trailed off, not daring to hope for what he wanted it to mean.

"Yeah," she nodded slowly. "Look, I can tell that your life is complicated, but… I really like you, Aang. As long as you weren't lying about anything else, then we can try this again."

"Really?" he asked with obvious relief in his voice.

She smiled and gave him another kiss. "Really. Just promise me from now on you won't hide anything else from me."

"I promise," he said instantly, making her smile. She knew that he meant it too, and that he would be good on his word.

"Okay," she smiled and kissed him again, reveling in the sweetness of his lips. They didn't get to kiss for very long before a beep sounded, making them split apart as Aang took a closer look at the screen. "What is it?" she asked curiously.

He continued reading it for a second before he smiled triumphantly. "I found the source of the hacker!" he exclaimed excitedly, writing down the address on a piece of paper. "If we can go to this address, we can find the hacker and turn them in. That way Zuko won't be killed for something he didn't do." He paused as he realized he said "we". "I mean, if _I_ can go," he hastily corrected himself.

A question popped into Katara's mind. "Wait, Mai told me that Zuko had a job, but she never said anything about her having one. Is she a part of your Order?"

Aang nodded. "Or at least, she _was_ before the council decided to have Zuko killed. Though I'm sure she's still going to do some work herself. She'll just have to watch out for other members."

Katara thought about it for a moment. She had always wanted more meaning in her life than just working and dating, but could she accept a life of killing, even if it was those who deserved it? Looking into his eyes, she was reminded of how his parents had been killed, and realized that they were likely killed by these people Aang was talking about. And if there was one thing Katara couldn't stand, it was people who were willing to tear apart families for their own selfish gain. "I want to join you," she finally decided.

Aang's eyes widened noticeably in surprise. "What?"

"I want to join you," she repeated herself with a small smile. "Although I'm not crazy about the idea of killing, these people that you've mentioned… they deserve it if they're okay with tearing apart families like that." Her anger started spiking, but she pushed it back down. "If you'll have me… then I want to fight with you." She waited in silence for a few moments as he stared at her, completely dumbfounded, until he smashed his lips to hers. She was surprised, but she enjoyed the kiss and kissed him back for a few moments until he pulled away, leaving her wanting more.

"I would love to have you join us, but…" he started nervously. "I don't want you to get hurt," he admitted with a sigh, making her smile at him. He really did care about her.

"And I don't want _you _to get hurt," she replied simply with a soft smile. "But I also don't want people like you're describing to get away with this. I want to make a difference. I'm a good fighter, a master waterbender, and I'm smart. I'll be a good addition to your order," she promised.

"Are you sure?" he asked unsurely.

"I'm sure," she assured him. "Okay?"

He was silent for another moment before he finally nodded. "Okay."

"Okay," she smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck before pulling him into a kiss. She was once again amazed at just how good the kiss was. Never before had she enjoyed a kiss so much. A thought struck her as they kissed. She couldn't possibly… love him yet, could she? It was hard for her to tell. The rational part of her wanted to say that obviously it was impossible, but the part of her that felt like she was being lifted off her feet seemed to disagree. Putting these thoughts aside, she deepened the kiss, wanting to be as close to him as possible.

This became a problem, however, as she felt the still somewhat new burning feel in her loins as the kiss became heated. Before either of them knew it, Aang was trailing kisses down her neck as she moaned loudly, feeling as if she was on fire. They reluctantly broke away for a moment as they looked into each other's eyes. "You want to take this upstairs?" she asked a little desperately.

He had never nodded so quickly before in his life as she dragged him over to the elevator and back up to his room, letting themselves forget about logic for the night.


	4. The Hunt

Chapter 4: The Hunt

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

* * *

The next day, Aang was gearing up for his hunt. After the previous nights… _distractions,_ he knew he needed to focus. Even if those distractions were rather amazing and captivating and… He forced his thoughts to stop. It wouldn't help him to have his attention on their activities from the night before, even if it felt like he had died and gone to heaven in her arms.

Shaking his head at himself, he grabbed his usual gear and suited up, making sure to grab his trenchcoat: black on the outside, but with an outline of orange around it, adding his own personal touch. After all, orange was his favorite color. Not that anyone would ever figure it out from his outfit.

As he pondered these thoughts, Katara came out with a trench coat of her own: hers black but with an outline of blue that matched her eyes. He loved the color of her eyes. It reminded him of the sky he loved to fly in when no one was looking at night. Though he knew he could fly during the day, too, he preferred to do it at night. Especially when he was out on a mission.

"Hey," she greeted him with a smile and a quick peck on the lips as she adjusted her coat and put the hood over her head. "How do I look?"

Unable to stop himself from smiling, he leaned in and gave her a kiss. "Beautiful, as always," he murmured to her, making her blush.

"Aang," she muttered shyly as she glanced away with a small smile on her face. Aang just laughed and sat down, inviting her to do the same as he pulled up some information on his computer.

"Okay," he started, clicking on a picture of the house in question that they were going to invade. To his surprise, it was smaller than he had expected. Most hackers he knew of were rich, and showed it by buying the biggest and most expensive houses they could find. But he supposed not all hackers were the same. After all, it would be wise to hide in plain sight rather than flaunt one's illegally obtained wealth. "Here's the plan. The person we're looking for's house is not too far from here. If we can break in and bring this person back to the council, we can prove Zuko's innocence and try to figure out how we can trace this back to… whichever of our enemies is behind this."

Katara thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, that could work," she said thoughtfully. "But how do you think we're going to get in?"

"I don't know yet," he admitted as he grabbed a gun and the blade that had been passed down from his father to him after his parents had died. Seeing it was a painful reminder of his parents' death, but he decided to shake it off. He knew hsi parents wouldn't want him to be sad. They would want him to move on and be happy, and he would do everything in his power to honor them. With that thought in mind, he placed the blade on his sleeve and locked it into place, flexing it to make sure that it still worked.

Katara looked at him questioningly. "Are you _sure_ this isn't like that Assassin's Creed game?" she asked doubtfully, but with an obvious teasing tone in her voice.

He laughed a little and shrugged. "What can I say? My father saw it and thought it would be a great idea. It definitely comes in handy," he replied easily as he took one last look around. "Alright, are you ready?"

"I'm ready whenever you are," she smiled. He smiled back and took her hand as they made their way towards the elevator. Before long, they were out on the streets, ready to go. "So, how are we going to get there?" she wondered, not seeing his car anywhere in sight.

He smiled and, as if by magic, pulled out what appeared to be a bo staff from behind his back, making her eyes widen and her jaw to drop. "How did you do that?" she asked in astonishment.

"A great magician never reveals his secrets," he said evasively, a playful aspect in his voice that she quickly picked up on. She was even more surprised, however, when he spun it in his hand a few times and snapped it open to reveal what appeared to be a glider. "I _could _drive to where I go, but I don't want to involve any of my personal things in my 'job'. Otherwise it could be taken away or destroyed or something," he explained.

"Oh. That makes sense," she thought aloud. "But how are we going to fly it?"

Aang laughed a little. "I'm an airbender, Katara. I'm no stranger to using this thing."

Katara just shook her head at him, slightly amused that he didn't seem to understand what she was asking. "No, Aang," she laughed a little. "What I meant was how are _we_ going to fly it?"

A large blush found its way onto his face as he realized how he had messed up. "Oh. Right," he smiled sheepishly before he resumed his normal demeanor. "That's easy. Though if we're going to pull this off, we're going to have to be really close," he tried to be nonchalant but failed rather miserably.

Katara laughed a little and kissed his cheek. "I don't have a problem with that." He smiled and pulled her close to him so that they were side by side.

"Grab a side and hold on tight," he instructed. She did as she was told and gasped a little in surprise as he wrapped one arm around her waist and hugged her close to him. Not that she minded, of course. Without another word, he launched into the air and soared into the sky, making her laugh as she was amazed at the view from up high.

Although a part of her was scared to death at the moment, the rest of her was amazed at how beautiful the city looked from this high. It had never occurred to her to be up high. Not that she was ever afforded the chance, but still. Just seeing the city lights made her feel like forever had happened in a second.

This didn't last long before they arrived where they needed to as Aang landed on a rooftop across from the house and set her down gently. "So…" he started a little nervously, fearing her reaction. "What did you think?"

She was silent for a moment, still trying to process everything that had just happened before a wide smile broke across her face. "That was awesome!" she cheered, making him smile as well.

"Great!" he sighed in relief. "I'm glad that you liked it." They smiled at each other for a moment before they returned back to what they knew they had to do. "So, this is the house that we need to get inside," he told her as he offered a pair of binoculars from his pocket. She took it and looked straight across from them, looking around for any kind of entrances. "See anything?"

"Not yet," she admitted as she continued her search. After looking around the house a few times, something finally caught her eye. Although everything else seemed to be shut and locked down tight, there was one thing that she noticed on the other roof. Although it was very well-concealed, she noticed that there was something out of place on the roof. It looked to be a box, but upon closer inspection, she saw what appeared to be a hatch underneath it.

"Did you find something?" Aang asked as he noticed that her search had become fixed on one point.

Prying her eyes away from the goggles, she looked at him and nodded. "Yeah. On the roof there's a box, but underneath it, it looks like there's a hatch we can use to get in."

Aang took the binoculars and looked where she was looking and smiled as he realized she was right. "Wow, nice find, Kat," he congratulated her, making her proud of herself. Taking her by surprise, he went behind her and wrapped her in his arms, making her blush as he crouched down and launched into the air, making her shriek a little before they finally landed softly on the other rooftop.

Once Katara was finally over her shock, she looked at him in annoyance. "I could have used a warning, thank you," she muttered.

"Sorry," he apologized, truly feeling bad. He was so used to flying, he forgot that not everyone could do what he did. "Do you forgive me?"

She pretended to think about it when an idea came to mind. "And what will you do to earn my forgiveness?" she asked playfully over her shoulder.

He smirked and moved closer to her, making her gasp as he trailed kisses down her neck. "How about," he started as he kissed her jawbone, making her feel like she was losing herself already. "When we're done with this, I make it up to you at home? Whatever you want to do."

Katara wanted to try to see if she could get anything more out of him, but with the kisses and his hot breath on her neck, it was taking everything in her not to jump him right there. "Okay," she finally agreed weakly, making him smile before he backed off, leaving Katara wishing he had stayed where he was.

"Good. Now let's get this over with." Walking over to the box, he kicked it off and to their not so surprise was the hatch that Katara had spotted. "Shall we?"

Katara nodded and waited as he opened it and peered inside, but there was nothing there. Or rather, nothing that he could see. The house was dark, but fortunately for him, he had been doing this for a while. He knew just how to find his way through the house. Jumping in first, Katara followed suit and they found themselves in a hallway.

"Okay, so here's the plan," Aang whispered to her as they moved and hid against a wall, just in case their target decided to come in their direction. "We're going to look around until we find whoever it was who was hacking us. Then, we knock them out and bring them in to the council."

With a roll of her eyes, Katara shook her head at him, though not without a glint of amusement in her eyes. "You already told me that, Aang," she whispered back.

He blinked as he realized she was right. "Oh yeah. Well, except for the knocking out part," he sighed. "Come on," he waved her over, but she stood in her spot, prompting him to frown. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she assured him. "I just think that we should split up."

His eyes widened considerably, wondering if she really had just suggested what he thought that she suggested. "You think we should split up?" he asked sadly.

Katara's eyes widened as she realized what he thought that meant. "No, no! I don't mean it like that!" she whispered a little frantically. "I meant that I think that we should split up to look around for whoever it is."

"I don't know, Katara… It's bad enough that you're here at all," he replied unsurely, not wanting to offend her, but also not wanting to risk her getting hurt.

She raised a brow at him. "What, you don't think I can handle myself?" It wasn't a question. It was a challenge.

"No,no,no!" he exclaimed quickly, making Katara's eyes dance with amusement as he struggled with the right words. "I know you can do it, but I just don't want you to get hurt. What if the guy hears you and decides to kill you?"

Katara smiled and took his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'll be fine, Aang. I'm a big girl now. I'll be able to take care of myself if something comes up. Okay?" she asked gently.

He still looked like he wanted to argue, but seeing the determination set on her face, he knew all too well that this was a losing battle for him. "Fine," he finally agreed with a sigh. "Just please… be careful."

"I'll be careful," she promised before giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "Now,, how about I go this way," she pointed to their right, "and you go that way," she then pointed to their left.

Aang was still not very much liking this idea of splitting up, but he had already provoked her ire twice thus far, and he certainly wasn't going to do it again. "Okay. Call me if you find him." Katara nodded and made sure she still had her water pouch and the pistol Aang had insisted that she kept just in case before going down her designated hallway.

Letting out a little sigh of frustration, he shook his head and started creeping his way towards his end of the hallway, listening for any kind of sign for a person. Whether it was the sound of a person walking or even just breathing, he made sure to keep his ears open as he checked each of the rooms. Unfortunately for him, there was no one in any of the rooms. So was the hacker not home? Maybe they had found out that they had been discovered and fled. Another thought came to mind. One that Aang certainly didn't like. But that would mean…

A scream came from the other end of the hallway, making Aang freeze in fear before he forced himself to get up and run towards the other end. _Please let her be okay, please let her be okay, please let her be okay_, he begged God as he ran. Before long, he found the room the scream had originated and found what he had expected. Katara being held at gunpoint by a man…

"Let her go!" Aang yelled furiously, pulling out his gun and aiming it at the man.

The man simply turned around, still holding the gun to Katara's head. "Ah, so you're the other person I saw jump into my house." Aang's eyes widened in disbelief. He had known that they had come in. More importantly, he had let them?

"If you knew we were coming, why did you let us in?" Aang questioned him, his pistol unwavering as it was trained on right between the man's eyes. The only thing holding Aang back from shooting him was the fact that Katara was too close for there to be a clean shot that wouldn't hurt her.

"Because… I need your help," the man admitted reluctantly, taking both Aang and Katara by surprise.

"If you need our help, then why are you holding her hostage?"

The man gave him a look. "Come on. Think about it. If _you_ knew that you were being hunted by an organization of elite assassins, wouldn't you want to make sure that you have something to make sure you live long enough to talk?"

Aang didn't want to admit it, but he had a point. "Fine. Let her go and I promise I won't do anything." The man was, for obvious reasons, hesitant, but he could tell that Aang meant what he said. He removed the gun from Katara's head and allowed her to run over to Aang's side, taking out her water.

"I never agreed to that," she told her previous captor and prepared to freeze him, but Aang put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hold on. Let's just see what he has to say." Katara looked at him in disbelief, but she could see that he was serious and reluctantly put the water back into her pouch. "Okay, now that that's settled, what did you need our help with?" he asked, curiosity evident in his voice. Aang took a closer look at the man. He had slightly tanner skin than his own, but had the same color hair, though with it being a bit longer than his as it surrounded his head, along with a pair of light brown eyes.

The man took a second to gather his words as best he could and decided to just say it. "I need help figuring out how to free my dad."

Katara didn't want to admit it, but this struck a chord in her heart strings. Yet another person whose family was being messed with. "What happened?" she asked gently, feeling her motherly instincts start to come out.

"He was kidnapped," the man explained, eyes downcast in shame. "One night, my father and I were working on an algorithm to ensure that we wouldn't be traced whenever we took some money, but then some soldiers broke into our house and took him." He took a deep breath as Katara gave him a comforting hug. He looked at her gratefully before continuing. "They said the only way I would get him back was if I helped them find your base, but after they… did what they wanted to, they still won't give him back. They want me to find whatever bases are left, but… I know that they're evil. I won't help them anymore," he refused rather adamantly.

Aang appreciated that this man appeared to have a conscience, but he needed more details if they were going to help him. "I'm sorry about your father, but how could we help you?"

"You track these people and kill them on a regular basis," Teo laughed a little incredulously. "If we can find the person who took my father, then you can have your revenge and me and my father can leave and never come back."

Pondering this for a few moments, he nodded in acceptance. "Okay, that could work. But I have a few questions."

"Ask away," the man simply shrugged as he sat back down on his bed.

"How are we going to track down where your father is? I'm sure you're a great hacker if you managed to find our main base, but this isn't a base. Your father could be anywhere in the city."

The man actually had to think about that for a moment when an idea came to mind. "Well, the night that my dad was kidnapped, there was one man who was clearly the leader of the group. They made the mistake of showing me their faces, and after some research found out that he's whoever is behind all this second in command. If we take him out, we can probably get information where my dad is."

After a few moments of thoughts, Aang had to agree. "Okay, that just might work. Now for my second question, if you're such a good hacker, how did I find out that you had hacked us?"

The man grinned proudly, obviously feeling accomplished by himself. "Oh, I left just enough of a trace of myself to show you that I live here. That way you could come here and we could talk."

"What?" Aang and Katara both gasped in surprise, completely not expecting this in the least. Aang had never once imagined a hacker would _ever_ not cover their tracks, but he supposed he understood why the man had chosen not to. "Okay then. And for my last question…" he looked him in the eye. "What's your name?"

This took the man by surprise, but he finally shook it off and awkwardly extended his hand out to him. "I'm 'Hacks4life'."

"I meant your real name," Aang replied with a hint of laughter in his voice.

After another moment of hesitation, the man finally gave in with a sigh. "My name's Teo. Teo Adams."

Aang nodded and shook his hand. "I'm Aang, Aang White. And this," he gestured to Katara. "Is Katara Aqua."

Teo looked at him in surprise. "You do realize now that I know your name, I could turn you into the police for murder and vandalism, right?" he questioned in surprise.

"And I could turn you in for admitting to be a hacker," Aang shrugged. "And I have a witness to prove it. You, however, don't." Teo didn't want to admit it, but he had a point. "But as long as you prove that you're a friend, that won't be a problem for either of us. I don't need more enemies than I already have."

Teo considered this for a moment and nodded. "Alright. I believe you."

"So who and where is this guy you're talking about, anyway?" Aang wondered.

"Oh, it'd probably just be easier if I showed you," Teo shrugged before getting up and gesturing for them to follow. They followed him as he walked into the room across from his and gasped as they looked at his set up. There was nothing but the best technology in the room, along with a few comfy chairs and what appeared to be some dish-looking objects on the walls. He noticed their attention fixed on the objects and explained. "Oh, those help block my signal so I don't have to worry about people finding me unless I want them to."

"Oh. That makes sense," Katara thought aloud before following him to a computer where he quickly brought up a news article of a man that seemed familiar to Aang.

Teo pointed at the man in the picture, shaking none other than Ozai's hand himself. "This here is Mr. Long Feng. He was the one who led the team of kidnappers who took my dad."

"But is it considered kidnapping if it's not a kid?" Aang joked, earning unamused looks from the people around him.

"You're lucky you're cute," Katara sighed, unable to hide a little smile before she resumed looking at the screen.

"Anyway," Teo continued with furrowed brows. "If we can find him and take him out, then we can find where my father is and find a way to take him down."

Aang was liking the plan so far, but an idea came to mind as he looked around the room. His Order could have certainly used a skilled hacker to help. If not for helping to find out information about their enemies, then at least to have a better way to hide their secrets. And if Teo could hack into their servers, then he would prove a valuable ally indeed…

"Okay, we'll find him, but I've got a couple of conditions for you before we do this," Aang tried to barter.

Teo raised a brow and leaned back in his seat. "What kinds of conditions?" he asked wearily.

"I only have two," Aang tried to reassure him. "The first one, I have to bring you back to my Order to explain the situation so my friend isn't being hunted anymore."

"Your friend is being hunted by your order? What did he do?" Teo asked in confusion as he scratched his head.

Aang actually laughed a little, already imagining the look of surprise that would cross over Teo's face. "Oh, he didn't do anything. Because he's the son of our top enemy, my Order assumed that he was the traitor who gave up our location, but as it turns out, _you_ were the one who told them our location."

Teo smiled sheepishly and looked down, embarrassed. "Sorry," he mumbled apologetically.

Although Aang still wasn't very happy about losing some of his friends from the attack, he understood why he had done what he had. After all, if it had been his parents in danger, he very well might have done the same.

"What's done is done," he finally said, making sure not to say 'It's okay' or 'I'll never forgive you'. "What matters now is that we fix this and take out who's really responsible for this."

Teo thought of something for a moment. "Wait, you said your friend was the son of the guy behind all of this?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah…"

"Well, why doesn't he just kill him in his sleep or something?" Teo wondered.

Aang thought about this for a moment and shrugged. "For one, if he got caught and didn't complete the job, then he would never be allowed near him again. And, even if he tried, Ozai has many guards at all times. Even if Zuko did manage to kill him on his own, he would probably die trying to escape.

Teo thought about it and realized he was right. "Okay, that makes sense. What's your second condition?"

"I want you to come work for us," Aang explained. "If we had a hacker as good as you and your father, we would never be found again." Teo looked like he was going to object, so Aang quickly added. "We can pay you."

"How much?" he replied rather skeptically. Aang dug in his pocket and pulled out his wallet, making both Katara and Teo's eyes widen as he took out a large wad of one hundred dollar bills until he was satisfied and handed it over to Teo. "Here. This is a down payment."

Counting the money, Teo's eyes widened as he saw how much was there. "Ten thousand dollars? You carry that much money in your pockets?" he asked in disbelief.

Aang chuckled and shrugged. "Only for situations like this. I've found that money talks more than words usually do."

"That it does," Teo agreed as he put the money in his pocket and considered. "Alright, but me and my father are a package team. We'll both work for you for one million a year."

"Deal," Aang stuck out his hand which Teo quickly shook. "Now come on. We need to go to my Order and tell them the plan." Teo nodded and followed them as they walked out of the house and made their way down a street. Though Katara couldn't help but feel like they were being watched.

"Aang," she whispered a little nervously.

"Yeah?" he asked over his shoulder, detecting the nervousness in her voice.

"Does it feel like… we're being watched?" she asked, looking around and wondering if she had just imagined the shadow that moved across the street.

Aang looked around and saw something. The outline of several men behind them trying to sneak up on them. "Yeah. We're being followed." Turning around quickly, he took out his gun and his blade, aiming it at the group who had been caught red-handed. "Who are you and what do you want?" he inquired them seriously.

"Oh, you don't need to know who we are. All we want is your death," the group's leader laughed before sending his fellow soldiers forward. Katara took out her water and Teo took out his gun, but Aang was already in the fray, stabbing and slicing, only wanting to use the gun if absolutely necessary.

Seeing this, Katara dashed in and helped while Teo stood there. _Eh, it looks like they've got this handled, _he thought with a yawn as he put his gun back in his pocket.

Aang sliced one guard's throat with his blade and sent another to Katara who stabbed him with her ice sword. One soldier foolishly attempted to sneak up on Aang, but Aang stuck his leg out and tripped him, making him land on the ground with an unceremonious thud. The man was not very fortunate, as Aang swiftly took his life before moving on to the next.

Before long, there was only one soldier left, and Katara decided to take advantage of this. Grabbing him by the throat, she pushed him up against the wall and stared at him menacingly from underneath her hood. "Where is Long Feng?"

"I'll never talk!" the soldier shouted back defiantly. Katara, however, saw through his facade. He was scared, and she was going to use that to her advantage.

"Oh really? Well, if you're not going to talk, I guess we won't have any use for you. Any last words?" she asked sweetly, but with her gun pressed against his skull.

A few moments of panicked breathing went by before the soldier finally crumbled. "Okay, okay! Long Feng's going to be at a party tomorrow night at City Hall! You can find him there!"

Katara smiled and took her gun away, but still kept it pointing at him. "Thank you." She looked at Aang. "So, what do we do with him?"

Aang was wondering that himself, but he couldn't bring himself to kill this man. It was clear that this man just wanted to live, and as long as he agreed to his conditions, that was one wish that he would grant. "We'll let him go, on one condition."

"Anything!" the soldier replied rather quickly.

Aang walked up to him and got in his face, giving him the most serious look he could muster. "You're going to leave this city and not come back. And you're not going to tell _anyone _about what happened here. Okay?" The soldier nodded quickly. "Good. Now get out of here." The soldier ran away without hesitation.

"How do you know he'll keep his word?" Teo asked him as they resumed walking.

"Because he knows it's his only chance of surviving," Aang told him as he resumed the way to the entrance.

* * *

Half an hour later, the trio finally walked into a vast corridor, with a large table in the center surrounded by statues of former agents.

"Ah, Mister White. It is good to see you again," a man at the table greeted him pleasantly.

Aang smiled and waved to him. "Hey, Gyatso." Gyatso smiled back before they both resumed their serious faces, knowing now was not the time for catching up.

"So," Zhao started. "You have found the one who discovered our base?"

"Yes, but it isn't what it seems," Aang replied quickly while gesturing to Teo. "This is Teo Adams. He is an excellent hacker, and before you all decide what to do with him, please allow me to explain the situation."

The council was silent as they looked at each other, but they all shrugged and nodded their agreement. "Very well, you may speak," Zhao gestured for him to continue.

"As I said, it's not what it seems," Aang began, looking to make sure Katara was still near. He always felt better and more confident with her at his side. "Our enemy kidnapped his father and forced him to hack our servers. And they still haven't returned him."

The council's eyes widened in shock at hearing this story, though they supposed this shouldn't be that surprising. This was one of the reasons they had this 'job' in the first place. "So what if his father was kidnapped?" one of the council members snapped. "He still is the cause of the death of some of our brother's and sisters! He should die!"

"Be calm, my friend," Gyatso put a soothing hand on his shoulder, making the man sigh.

"I'm sorry. It's just-" he tried to apologize.

"We know," Gyatso assured him. "But he did what he had to. It isn't his fault. Rather, we should focus on the one who _is _to blame for this." He turned back to look at Aang. "Do you know who gave the order for this?"

Aang nodded. "Ozai gave the order, but it was carried out by Long Feng. If we take out Long Feng, we might be able to find a way to take out Ozai without Zuko being blamed. And that reminds me, since Zuko's not to blame, I assume that he is no longer on our list?" he asked them hopefully.

Zhao didn't look too happy about this, but Aang knew he wouldn't let a personal grudge stand in the way of what he knew was right. "Very well. He may live." The others nodded their agreement, making Aang sigh in relief. Zhao thought all this over. "Where can we find Long Feng?"

Katara stepped up this time. "We interrogated one of his soldiers and found out that he's going to be at a party at City Hall tomorrow. If we can get in, we can take him out and find Ozai."

"Who is this?" Zhao asked curiously, looking at her closely before finally realizing who she was. "You brought your date on a mission? You do realize that we'll have to kill her, right?" he told Aang grimly.

"No! She wants to join the order!" Aang exclaimed a little desperately, not wanting to fight with his comrades, but not wanting Katara to be killed either.

Zhao raised a brow. "She wants to join us, does she?" He looked at her again, and she squirmed a little under his intense gaze. "And what makes you think you have what it takes?"

Katara was nervous for a second, but she shook it off and stood forward. "I'm a master waterbender and I'm good at being stealthy. Plus, I hate anyone who's willing to tear apart a family for their own agenda."

"You weren't that stealthy when I caught you," Teo snickered.

Katara glared at him, and he shut up instantly. Rolling her eyes, she continued. "I promise, if you allow me into your order, you will not be disappointed." The council members all looked at each other. After a few moments of bated breath from Aang, they finally nodded their assent.

"Very well. Mister White here will be your mentor until you have been trained enough," Zhao replied evenly.

"I don't need a-" she was going to argue further, but the look in Aang's eyes told her not to. "Fine," she sighed.

Zhao nodded. "Good. Anything else you would like to bring up while you're here?"

Aang nodded and gestured to Teo again. "I've hired him and his father when we rescue him to work for us. He's the best hacker I've ever seen and will help us make sure that no base is ever discovered again."

"Yeah, but like I told him, for a million a year," Teo decided to make clear.

Zhao just waved him off. "That's nothing. Alright then. If that's all there is to discuss, then I have a proposal to make." He had everyone's attention. "Tomorrow, we will go after Long Feng. However, I do not want him to get away. He must pay for his part in this and we must find a way to get to Ozai. I propose that we send ten members of our Order to support these three in taking him down to ensure he doesn't escape. All in favor?" Everyone raised their hands. "Splendid. Meeting adjourned." The council members stood up, Gyatso walking over to give Aang a hug.

"It's good to see you again, Aang," Gyatso told him with a smile.

Aang smiled as well and hugged him back. "It's good to see you too, Gyatso."

"I wish I could stay to talk, but I too have important matters to take care of. Good luck on your mission, young man," he gave him another hug before walking away with the other council members.

Aang looked at his friends. "Well, at least everything went about as well as I had hoped. I honestly thought they might kill you."

Katara smirked. "I'd like to see them try." Aang was about to point out that his comrades had spent years mastering the art of the kill, but he decided against it.

"Come on. We should go get some rest," he motioned for them to follow as he walked back out where they came. "Tomorrow, Long Feng will die."


	5. Lockdown

Chapter 5: Lockdown

**Hey guys! I just wanted to say thank you all for keeping up with my stories and for reviewing! It helps to know what I'm doing right and wrong so I can improve and hopefully write better stories for you guys! Thanks! **

**Responses to reviews: **

**Flip the pancakes: Well, I'm glad that you like the story so far. Yeah, I guess I didn't really make it all that clear, but there essentially is a war between them, just not a full-on war. Like in the last chapter, the bad guys send their soldiers to try to kill members of the Order, and in turn the Order tries to kill the bad guys. But I think I know what you mean and I'll try to incorporate it more into the story. Thanks for the suggestion and for the review! **

**Moksh: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoy my writing! Thanks for reading and the review! **

**Ashley Barbosa: I get how it seems like I like it that way, but if you've seen in my other non-action oriented stories, I make sure that Aang is mostly a pacifist. It's not so much that he's bloodthirsty, more like he's wise enough to know that "hesitation hastens the grave". Like in the show, although he was hesitant to get into fights, pretty much anything else except trying to tell Katara how he felt he knew there wasn't time to waste and jumped right to it. That's why I have him do that, but I understand the confusion. Sorry if I made it seem that way. Thanks for reading and the review! **

**Guest: My outlook on that… Well, I think it's safe to say that I'm not much of a fan of people who truly think that. With all due respect to my fellow Kataangers who tend to write the adult Kataang fics where Aang still acts like he did at twelve, it's just not plausible. Sure, I have no doubt that there was always a part of Aang that would like to goof off and have fun, but that doesn't mean that his younger self is always going to be who he is. As we grow, so too do our personalities, and saying that he was as mature as a twelve year old for the rest of his life is like saying that none of us are going to grow up as we get older either. It just doesn't quite work. It's probably not on purpose, but the only Aang they had seen was the twelve year old, so they're likely just trying to work with what they know. I can understand that, because it's the only thing that they've seen and are probably just using it to the best of their advantage. Besides, even if at the beginning of the story he had been acting rather childish- which was okay since he was twelve- as the story progressed, his wisdom that he already had guided him along with seeing the devastation of war and forced him to grow up faster than he probably would have liked. By the end of the show, he was very mature, even putting aside his hurt feelings from EIP to make sure that the world and the girl he loved survived. And if you're talking about physical-wise as well, then I don't really like that either. For example, in some stories by my fellow Kataang writers, they make Aang small and wimpy, even in high school stories when in reality if you've seen some parts of LOK he grew up to be a strong, tall, and handsome young man and is why I write it like that for when he's an adult. Thanks for reading and the review! **

**AnonymousKataang: Yeah, sorry. I was really excited about the idea of the Kataang Valentine's Day fic and sort of crammed it in quickly, but I promise that I'm trying my best not to rush anything. Thanks for reading and the review! **

**KatMora606: ****¡Gracias! ¡Me alegra que te guste mi escritura! Gracias por leer y por la reseña!**

**Samaritan Prime: "When I first saw your review, I died laughing at the "Oh FRAK" part. I don't think I've ever seen anyone use "FRAK" before, but thank you for doing it. It absolutely made my day when I saw that. Yeah, I definitely wasn't planning on taking it this way, but when I thought of it, it just seemed like a better idea. Anyway, thanks for reading and the review! **

**Javier: Sorry that I killed you with the cliffhanger. I have a bad habit of doing that, but at least it keeps you on your toes! Thanks for reading and the review! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

* * *

As Aang slowly awoke, he felt something warm pressed against him. At first he just assumed that it was his imagination, but as the warmth wrapped itself around him, making his eyes open instantly. He was relieved, however, when he saw that it was Katara. Even after being together for a few days, he was still adjusting to waking up with someone else in his bed. After all, he hadn't had a girlfriend for a few years, and none of them had lasted long enough to stay with him in his room.

He smiled as he watched the peaceful look on her face as she slumbered. She was so beautiful. It amazed him that she had even agreed to go out on a date with him, let alone let him be her first. Not that he was complaining.

The more he looked at her, though, the more his heart seemed to beat faster. This was surprising to him, as he hadn't expected to have such strong feelings for her so soon into their relationship. Did he love her already? The thought was scary for him. He hadn't loved anyone before. Or, at least in a romantic way. He certainly had loved his parents, and Gyatso was more or less like a father figure to him as well. But this was different. This was… dangerous.

If it came down to finishing the mission or saving her life, he wasn't sure which he would pick. The part of him that would do anything for her wanted to say obviously that he would pick her, but the more rational part of him knew that one human life wasn't worth thousands of others, even if that life belonged to the most amazing girl he had ever met.

Sighing a little, he just laid there, not wanting to disturb her. He became surprised, however, when her head found its way onto his chest and buried her face in it, making his heart go off the charts as he stared down in adoration at the sleepy woman who had stolen his heart. _Maybe I do love her…_ he thought, doing his best not to wake her, especially now with how close she was.

Unfortunately for him, the slumbering waterbender was finally waking up as she let out a yawn. Eyes fluttering open, she was surprised to see how close she was and blushed heavily. "Oh, sorry," she murmured tiredly.

Aang simply laughed and shook his head. "What are you sorry for? I have no problem with being able to hold you," he replied simply, and more honestly than he thought was possible.

It proved to be the right thing to say, as Katara smiled widely. "Well I have no problem with you holding me," she laughed before kissing him. He smiled into the kiss and kissed her back for a few moments before they pulled apart. "So, what's the plan for today?" she yawned.

He smiled again and shrugged. "Besides the mission for tonight, not much else," he admitted. "We can do whatever we want until then."

"Whatever we want?" she questioned playfully while letting a hand slide down his pecs, making his breath catch in his throat as he waited to see what she would do. Both to his relief and disappointment, she stopped at the end of his stomach and brought it back to her side.

"Y-yeah," he stuttered a little, making her laugh, her eyes dancing in amusement.

"Well, what if I want to get tacos?" she teased, making him laugh. He hadn't been expecting her to say that.

"Then we'll go get tacos," he shrugged with a smile at her. "Whatever you want."

She smiled and leaned up closer to him. "Well, tacos _are _pretty good, but I think I'm more in the mood for…" she trailed off and reached down to grab him. "A good sausage right now." She felt him grow as she stroked him, making him moan at her touch.

"I-if that's what you want," he breathed, feeling amazed at how easily she turned him on. She smiled and kissed him before she got to work.

* * *

A few hours later, they had decided to meet with Teo before the mission of the night. After all, they had no idea what his father looked like or even what his name was. If they were going to get information out of Long Feng, they would need to know exactly what kind of information they would need to get.

So as they arrived at his house, they were more than a little surprised to see the door wide open. "Uh oh," Aang gulped and looked at Katara. "Looks like we've got trouble."

"Yeah, that doesn't look good," she agreed before they ran inside to see what was going on. Finally making it inside, they heard noises coming from upstairs. They recognized one of them as Teo's, but the others were certainly unfamiliar. "Come on! Teo might be in danger!" Katara told him. Aang nodded and they continued running until they reached a room where several men had surrounded Teo, all holding guns in their hands.

"Find the bases!" one ordered rather loudly. "That's all you have to do! It's as simple as that, and then we'll return your father."

Teo growled and looked at the other guards, but was surprised to see that Aang and Katara had arrived on the scene. Smirking a little, he shook his head. "No."

The lead guard looked at him in disbelief. "Did you just say… 'no'?" he asked a little dangerously, his grip tightening on the gun.

One soldier was killed and dragged out of the room while Teo responded. "I said, no."

"Why you little," the man growled before walking up to him and pressing the gun to his face. Teo would have taken his own gun out, but he was so shocked at how quickly the man had gotten to him, he couldn't think straight.

Fortunately for him, Katara had taken out the other guard while Aang was sneaking up on the last one. Before long, Aang's blade was pressed into the man's back who fell to the floor dead, making him disgusted. He certainly didn't like killing, but he just saw no other way.

"Are you okay?" Aang finally asked after snapping out of his thoughts, remembering his ally that had just been attacked.

Teo nodded and rubbed his face where the gun had been placed. "Yeah, I'm fine. The guy just was a little more forceful than I thought he would be," he admitted, spitting on the dead body before him. Aang grimaced at the sight, but decided not to comment. He was against disrespecting the dead, but the last thing he needed at the moment was to cause tension between them. "So, what brings you guys here?" he asked curiously as he took a seat on his bed.

Aang and Katara looked at each other before looking back. "We need to know information about your father so that when we take out Long Feng, we know what to ask."

"Oh, don't worry," Teo laughed a little bitterly. "They'll know who you're talking about. All you have to do is say 'The hacker's father' and they'll know."

Pondering this for a moment, Aang nodded. "Okay, I guess that could work. Are you going to join us?" he wondered.

"On the scene? No," Teo shook his head quickly. "I will, however, be providing technological assistance." They both looked at him with clearly confused faces. "I'm going to help you with hacking," he sighed, feeling like he was the only smart one in the room.

"Oh," Katara laughed a little sheepishly. "Right. Do you have any idea of the layout of City Hall?" she asked.

Nodding, he got up and gestured for them to follow as he made his way to his computer room. As he sat down, he quickly brought up a file marked 'City Hall', and a schematic of the place came up, much to the couple's surprise.

"This is City Hall. Or, at least the design of it, anyway," he shrugged before turning back to the screen. "There are ten total exits for the building. Since your order is sending ten members to help you, each one can guard a door to make sure Long Feng doesn't escape." He turned in his chair to look at them seriously. "Long Feng needs to die today. If he gets away, you won't find him again unless it's your time. Do you understand?"

Katara rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "We understand, 'Boss'." Teo actually laughed a little before looking at the schematics again.

"Well, if we can find something for you to isolate Long Feng, then maybe this will actually work," Teo said thoughtfully as he looked at it closely. Upon further inspection, he was surprised to see a small room in the north east corner of the building. "There!" he pointed to it and looked at them. "If you can somehow get him in there alone, then you should be able to take him out quietly without there being too much trouble."

Aang looked at it closer and gauged how hard it could be to make that happen. "But _how_ could we get him in there, though? If he's going to be at City Hall for a party, there's going to be a lot of other people there."

"Exactly," Teo responded as if it was obvious. "Use the crowds to sneak your way through to him and get him to go with you."

"But he has no idea who we are," Aang objected. "Or if he does, then he's even less likely to go with me. For all I know, he could know that we're coming and set up a trap for us."

Teo nodded in thought as he looked up at the ceiling, as if he could find the answer there. "So you and I can't get him there, so we need someone he's never met before…"

Then a thought came to mind to both of them at the same time as they looked at Katara. "What?" she asked in confusion.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Teo asked Aang.

"I think so," Aang grinned.

Katara looked between them both in confusion. "What?"

* * *

A few hours later, it was finally time for the party at City Hall. Katara was none too pleased, as she was being used as a sort of bait. She understood well that it was for a good cause, but she also knew it meant that she would have to flirt with a strange man who was being hunted by her boyfriend.

Despite herself, she couldn't help but smile at that thought. She had a boyfriend. And, despite her surprise at finding out about his 'job', was an amazing guy. Far better than Jet ever was. She couldn't believe she had ever even gone out with the guy. Aang was perfect for her in every way. Although she was reluctant to admit it, she knew that she loved him.

It was scary for her. Being in love already when she had just gotten out of a two year relationship, but she couldn't deny it. All he had to do was shoot her a smile and she would feel like she was melting right there. Everything about him just made her feel so… happy.

She rolled her eyes at herself. Was this thinking incredibly cheesy? Yes. Was it probably not helping as she was searching for her target? Yes. Did she really care about any of that stuff? No. No, she did not.

Shaking these thoughts from her mind, she took a sip of wine from her glass and continued looking, but there were so many people there, she felt like she was lost in a sea of faces. The more she looked, the more she became worried. So many things could go wrong with this mission. Long Feng could escape, someone other than him could die, and worst of all, Long Feng might have caught wind of their plan and not come at all. Then all this would be for nothing.

"Kat. Come in, Kat," Aang asked over the tiny earpiece that was carefully hidden by her long, silky smooth chocolate curls. Katara moved from her position by the refreshments table and made her way to a quiet corner of the room.

"I'm here. What's going on?" she replied, taking another sip of her wine. She knew she would have to pace herself, but she just couldn't help it. This was one of the best wines she had ever had.

"Have you seen Long Feng yet? He's supposed to be here by now."

Katara shook her head, but then remembered that he couldn't see her. Or maybe he could, depending on where he was at the moment, but deciding on assuming the former, she responded. "No, I haven't seen him yet. There's so many people here. It's hard to find one person in these big crowds."

Aang was silent for a moment before an idea came to mind. "Wait, I think I might be able to find him. Hold on a second." Katara waited patiently for him to continue, but they no longer had to worry about finding him, as he had finally arrived.

"Welcome, my friends!" Long Feng greeted the people on a podium in the center of the room. "Thank you all for coming. We all know why we are here." The people cheered as he put on a fake smile. "I want to thank you all for your support. Because with your help, we will make a difference in this city with my re-election!"

Katara gasped. "Long Feng is the mayor of the town?" she asked in complete surprise.

"Yeah. You didn't know that?" Aang wondered.

"No. I haven't really kept up with politics in this city," she admitted. "But isn't it kind of… treason to kill a mayor," she whispered the last part lowly.

Aang chuckled a little. "No, it's not 'treason', but it's definitely not legal. But it needs to be done. When he signed up to work for Ozai, he signed his own death warrant. He knows that and he'll find out tonight that people like him can't get away with everything."

Katara nodded slowly in thought. Of course she understood Aang's reasoning, but she still didn't very much like the idea of a soon to be corpse on the stage. But then again, she supposed he didn't like the thought either. At heart, Aang was a people person. He absolutely loved talking with people and getting to know them, hoping to become their friend. But he knew enough from what his parents taught him to know that these people needed to be put down for the good of everyone else. And she understood that, too, as she took a deep breath.

"Okay… well he's getting off the stage now. Do I really have to flirt with him?" she complained a little.

Aang's laugh rang over her ear piece, making her wince a little. "Sorry, Kat. But I don't think he would go with you otherwise. If you tried to ask for help, he would probably just send one of his guards to help you."

Letting out a long sigh, Katara nodded slowly, wanting to just get it over with. "Okay… if you say so." She looked again and saw that he was talking to some guests in the center of the building. "I'm going to get moving. I don't want to lose him in case he decides to leave early."

"Sounds good. Good luck, Kat," he told her before the earpiece became silent. Making her way through the crowd, she was slightly annoyed by all the looks she was getting from the "Gentlemen" around her.

"Hey beautiful, want to dance?" one asked her with a self-absorbed smile.

She put on a fake smile and shook her head. "NO thank you. I've got somewhere else to be." She continued walking and yet another one decided to try his luck.

"Hey gorgeous, want to get something to drink?"

"No thank you," she replied a little forcefully, feeling her temper spiking. If the situation wasn't so dire, she likely would have lost it by now. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was people who thought they were amazing, even when they clearly weren't.

Before long, she had finally reached the area of her target, but she couldn't see him at first. Her earlier thoughts of feeling lost in a sea of faces seemed very accurate at the moment. Looking around again, she couldn't seem to find him until she finally did. He had taken it upon himself to get some wine, where she had begun her search. Sighing again, she made her way over to him, silently giving herself a pep talk in her mind. _You can do this. Just a little flirting, get him in the room, and let Aang do what he needs to do. Simple as that_, she reminded herself. With renewed confidence, her steps picked up until she finally arrived.

Taking one last deep breath, she tapped on his shoulder and attempted to stand as nonchalantly as possible. Long Feng turned around and smiled at her, drinking in her appearance, making her want to puke, but she put that thought aside for the moment. "Why hello, young lady. May I help you?" he asked in concern.

"Oh, I don't need help, thank you, but I just wanted to talk to you," Katara replied with a charming smile, doing her best not to think about the look he was giving her. She was fairly sure he was already undressing her with his eyes. "So, how is your campaign going?"

Long Feng smiled, a creepy smile that made Katara wince just a bit, but not enough for him to notice. "It is going just fine, my dear. I am confident that we will win. Thank you for supporting me," he bowed to her and kissed her hand.

Despite being disgusted, Katara couldn't help but blush a little. She hadn't expected him to kiss her hand. "Well, I'm very glad to hear that," she lied through her teeth. "You've just been such a great mayor for us. I would hate it if someone else took your place."

"I believe I would hate it, too," Long Feng joked. She laughed rather fakely, but he didn't seem to notice, or at least care, anyway. "So. Forgive me if I'm being a bit brash, but… have you ever been with a mayor before?" he asked her carefully, not wanting to seem too blunt.

Katara held herself back from puking, but just barely. Once she trusted herself to speak, she shook her head. "No, no I haven't."

"Well, would you like to?"

Once again resisting the bile that threatened to rise up in her throat, she pushed it back down and put on a fake smile. "I would love to!" she replied fake-cheerily.

"Splendid," he smirked. "Where would you like to go?"

"Oh, I know of a little quiet place that we could go to," she murmured before turning around and walking. "Follow me."

Long Feng smirked once again and followed her as she led the way to the designated spot they had picked out, motioning his guards to stay. As they walked, she couldn't help but feel like something was off. Like something… _bad_ was about to happen. Shaking these thoughts from her mind, she continued leading him until they had finally arrived.

As they reached the room, Long Feng opened the door and held it for her. "After you," he gestured for her to walk in with his arm.

"Why thank you," she put on another fake smile and entered, looking around for her boyfriend. She was relieved to see him perched atop the chandelier, with Teo struggling to keep his balance up there as well. Fortunately for her, Long Feng didn't seem to notice and followed her inside before he closed the door. Once he was satisfied that it was closed, he turned back to her. "Now, where were we?"

Aang prepared himself to pounce, but he became surprised when he felt something knock him off of the chandelier, sending him crashing to the ground.

He groaned slightly, having landed on his back. From what he could tell, he hadn't broken anything, but he was still in a fair amount of pain. And, to his annoyance, Long Feng's laugh pierced his aching head.

"Did you _really_ think I didn't know this was a trap?" he questioned both Aang and Katara, still apparently having no clue about Teo being up there. "It's going to take a lot more than that to take me down. So," he took out a small sword from the pocket of his blazer. "Who would like to die first?"

Aang, who was still recovering from his fall, didn't reply. Katara got into a fighting stance, although she didn't have any water with her. If there was one thing she knew, she wasn't going down without a fight. Fortunately for her, she didn't have to.

At that moment, Teo threw caution to the wind and jumped down from the chandelier, eliciting a surprised "Oof!" from Long Feng. Katara became surprised, not expecting him to do it. After all, he was a hacker, not an agent, but she supposed that this had become personal to him.

Teo held a gun to his head, staring menacingly into his eyes. "Where. Is. My. Father?" he grit through his teeth, feeling like a hero at the moment.

Long Feng just sneered at him. "I'll never talk."

"Not willingly," Teo agreed, keeping the gun against the side of his head and digging around in his pocket until he pulled out a syringe.

"What is that?" Long Feng snapped, but he couldn't hide the nervousness that had crept into his voice.

"You'll see, Long Feng. You'll see," Teo promised. He didn't hesitate, putting the needle into Long Feng's neck, making him gasp in pain for a moment before Teo had finished. Teo stood up and holstered his gun, much to Katara and Aang's surprise.

"What are you doing?" Katara hissed. \

Teo just shrugged as he looked back at her. "Relax. I injected him with a sedative and something else I whipped up just for this purpose." Turning back to Long Feng, he looked down at the man who seemed to be anywhere but there. "Long Feng, what is your middle name?"

"Shirley," Long Feng replied dazedly, making Aang and Teo snicker a little. Katara smiled a little, but pretended to roll her eyes. After all, she had an image to uphold.

"Good. Now, where is my father and Ozai?" he got back to business.

Long Feng was quiet for a moment, his inner conscious obviously fighting him to resist, but the serum inside him had won out. "Ozai is keeping your father in his mansion in a bunker underneath. You will find Ozai there tomorrow night. But he will be heavily guarded. He knows that you are working with these filth," he gestured in Aang's general direction.

Aang walked over and looked down at him as a question came to mind. "If he knows that he's working with us, why doesn't he just kill his father?" he wondered. Teo glared at him, but he knew that he had a point.

"Because he's still a bargaining chip," Long Feng told him honestly. "He knows that if he can get this fool here to see his beaten up father, he will submit."

"Why you rotten-" Teo snarled and leapt at him, but Aang held him back, shaking his head.

"Not yet," he whispered. Teo looked like he wanted to argue, but he knew better and reluctantly nodded in agreement. Aang turned back to their captive. "Now, I have two questions for you. Firstly, are there any special ways inside of Ozai's mansion that we can enter without getting discovered?"

Long Feng had to think about it for a moment before he nodded slowly. "Yes, there is one. There's a secret tunnel that runs underneath the mansion that leads to the bunker his father is being kept in. You will find the entrance at the bottom of the hill."

Aang nodded and crouched down in front of him. "And as for my other question… why?"

"Why, what?" Long Feng questioned in confusion, still clearly dazed from the effects of the truth serum.

"Why do you all do this?" Aang clarified. "Hurting people, separating families, trying to take advantage of those you deem weaker than you… Why?"

Long Feng smiled, an evil smile that made Aang shiver a little. "Because those beneath us should be led, and the only way you keep your sheep in line is by treating them like the cattle they truly are."

They all stared at him in disbelief, wondering how such words could even come from a human's lips. "Wow," Katara breathed a little angrily. "You're a monster." Long Feng laughed a little and was about to respond when Teo finally had enough. Taking the sword that he had dropped, he quickly stuck it in his heart, covering his mouth to ensure that no one would hear his screams. Before long, the muffled cries subsided and his eyes dimmed, signalling the death of a tyrant.

They all looked at each other, relieved that it was over. "Well, we should get out of here, Aang decided, glancing at the corpse beside them. "The last thing we need right now is to get caught here." They both nodded in agreement and followed him out of the room while Aang radioed into his comrades. "Long Feng is down. Repeat, Long Feng is down."

Surprisingly, Zuko's voice came on his earpiece. "Good. That we all heard what that monster said. We're all moving out now." The line went dead as Aang looked back to his friends. "Come on. We really need to get out of here," he told them when he saw someone walking towards the room that they had previously occupied.

Nodding again, they followed him, walking at a quicker pace when before long there was a yell of surprise. "Move, move!" he whispered quickly to them. They broke out into a full sprint when some guards stepped into their path.

"Where do you think you're going?" one of them asked as they took out a gun and pointed it at them. Aang, who had had enough of bad guys for the day, didn't hesitate. Throwing caution to the wind, he winced as he saw his blade enter the guard's heart, but decided to not focus on it as he took the other's life as well. The crowd gasped at his actions, but he had already gone back to a full on sprint, trying to get out of there as quickly as possible. After what felt like forever, they finally made it out of the building, but were alarmed to hear police sirens coming.

Knowing they didn't have much time, he took a side of each of his companions. "Are you guys ready?" he asked.

"Ready for whaaaaaat?" Teo shrieked in surprise as Aang crouched down and launched them all in the air, using the strong currents around them to guide them away to a rooftop far from City Hall. Before too long, Aang picked one he thought would be safe to land on and gently set them all down, panting a bit. He had used up most of his energy with that maneuver.

Once they had all caught their breaths, they looked at each other. "Okay, I think the coast is clear," Katara sighed before looking at her boyfriend. "So, what's the plan now?"

"Tonight, we're going to gear up and make sure we have everything we need for tomorrow. Because tomorrow night," he looked up at the night sky. "Ozai will finally go down."


	6. The Final Showdown

Chapter 6: The Final Showdown

**Hey guys! I just wanted to thank you all for reading this story. Sorry I've been taking so long to get it out, but my work has been having me come in more frequently than usual, but I promise to at least have one chapter per week, hopefully more. Anyway, although this is the last chapter of this story, I'm excited about some other projects that I have in mind next, so keep an eye out for that. Anyway, thank you guys for keeping up with my stories and I hope you all have a great day! God bless!**

* * *

It was finally the day that Aang had been waiting for. The day that the city would finally be set right. Or, at least it would take off one of the bigger targets off his order's list, anyway. If nothing else, it would allow the people of the city to have more freedom, as Ozai had often restricted it by paying off people in politics. After all, Long Feng had clearly been bought by him.

Aang grimaced as he thought of his former enemy. He didn't _hate_ the man, but he certainly hadn't liked him either. Anyone who would sell out the people who supported him for a quick buck would always be on Aang's _least favorite people_ list.

Shaking these thoughts from his mind, he resumed sharpening his blade. Even if they had discovered a way into Ozai's mansion, he knew it still wouldn't be an easy mission. Ozai was not only rich, but from what he had heard from his best friend, he was very smart. Not necessarily wise, but smart. Smart enough to have traps all over the area surrounding his residence, anyway.

Zuko had warned him of the traps he had seen be put there. Fortunately for them, there were no land mines or anything, but from what Zuko had seen of his father's plans, there were many traps. Some blades, some pits of spikes- which seemed old fashioned to Aang who shrugged it off- and guard dogs and soldiers at each entrance of the mansion.

Long Feng had said that the entrance was at the bottom of the hill, but he hadn't said more than that. Why hadn't he asked for more detail? Aang silently cursed himself. His life was already complicated enough, and he had forgotten to ask more details about how to get into his enemy's house before his only source had been killed.

Sighing a little, he stood up from his seat and moved to the other side of the room to look at a picture of his family. Everything had been so peaceful back then. Or, rather the _days_ were peaceful, he supposed. The nights were filled with training. Getting him into top physical shape so he would be prepared for anything.

His parents had known that there was a good chance that their enemies could easily find their base, so they had taken it upon themselves to give him the best training that they could. And although he hadn't gotten the proper childhood that he had been hoping for, he was satisfied that he at least got to spend a good amount of time with his parents before their untimely death.

Untimely death. That's what his Order had called it. No, it wasn't an untimely death. It was a completely unnecessary death. His parents had been in an alleyway when they died, but they weren't being mugged. The other Order had somehow found out their identities and decided to do something about it, much to Aang's dismay when he was younger.

And although he would always miss them, he knew that they wouldn't want him to mourn over them. Instead, they would want him to continue fighting the good fight. Working to help people rather than hurt them. After all, it's what they had done. And he would honor them with their work until his very last breath.

To his surprise, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking over it, he let out a sigh of relief as he saw that it was Katara. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked gently.

He nodded and looked back at the picture. "Yeah… I just miss my parents," he admitted with another sigh. "I never really got a real goodbye from them, and I guess I wish I had."

Katara took his hand in hers and squeezed it softly, trying her best to comfort him. "I know what you mean," she murmured. "I never got a real goodbye from my mother either. I just came back home one day and was told that she was just… gone." She sighed again and leaned her head on his shoulder as he interlaced their fingers. "But, we have to remember that we'll see them again. Maybe not for a while, but we _will_ see them again. And when we do, it won't be goodbye. It'll be hello."

Aang looked over at her in adoration. She had known just what to say, and he couldn't help but be amazed at how well she knew him already. "Thanks, Katara," he whispered to her gratefully, a lone tear escaping his eye. "I really needed that."

She smiled gently and kissed his cheek. "No problem, Aang. I'm always here for you whenever you need me," she promised, making him smile.

He looked down at his feet for a moment, overwhelmed by his love for her. Should he do it? Should he tell her that he loved her? Looking at her head on his shoulder, he made his decision right then and there. No more hiding it, no more pretending. He would just tell her.

"Hey Katara," he whispered to her, nervousness apparent in his voice.

"Hmmm?" she hummed back feeling lulled to sleep by the heartbeat she could hear through his neck.

"I have something I want to tell you, but I… I'm kind of scared to say it," he admitted, looking anywhere but at her as he felt a blush start to rise on his cheeks.

Katara would have moved to look up at him, but she found that she was too comfortable at the moment to do so, so she decided to talk while remaining on his shoulder. "You can tell me anything, Aang," she assured him sweetly with a gentle smile. "Just say what you want to say."

Aang was silent for a few moments, still unsure about this, but one way or another, he knew it would come out sooner or later. Taking one last deep breath, he kissed the head that had placed itself on his shoulder affectionately and looked down at his feet.

"I… I know that we haven't been dating for very long." He laughed a little at himself. "We've only been dating for about a week."

She hummed in agreement. "It's been a _very_ good week."

He smiled a little at this and looked at her with half-lidded eyes, being amazed that such a beautiful girl could care for him. Finally deciding on it, he forced it out. "I just wanted to say that… I… love… you…" There was silence for a moment, and he got nervous. "It's okay if you don't love me back yet, but-" He was cut off as she pulled away from his shoulder and smashed her lips to his.

His eyes widened in surprise, but he sunk into the kiss and closed his eyes, just savoring the moment. After a few moments of kissing each other hungrily, they reluctantly pulled apart. She stared into his eyes with a passion that took his breath away.

"I love you, too," she whispered, making him smile wider than he had previously thought possible. He leaned in and captured her lips again, reveling in the sweetness of her lips as their hearts beat in perfect harmony.

They were interrupted, however, with a cough from the other side of the room. Breaking apart abruptly, they turned to see their friend standing there awkwardly. "Uh, if you guys are done over there, we still have some planning to do," he said even more awkwardly.

Aang cleared his throat quickly and nodded. "Right. We should probably focus on that," he agreed, but not without stealing another kiss from Katara, leaving her dazed and breathless for a moment. Teo rolled his eyes at them and motioned for them to follow as he made his way over to the table in the center of the room.

"Okay, so here's the plan," he told them as he pointed at the map that he had printed out. "Fortunately for you, I found out where exactly the entrance is located."

"Great!" Aang exclaimed happily.

"I wouldn't get too excited yet," Teo warned him, making Aang's smile drop. "There are guard dogs, soldiers, and a security pin that you need to get in. Assuming you can take care of the first two things, you'll need to get the code to be able to go through it."

Aang mused this for a minute before an idea came to mind. Taking out his phone, he quickly typed up a text and hit send.

"Who are you texting?" Katara asked curiously.

Just as he was about to answer, his phone beeped, taking them all by surprise as he looked at it. "I texted Zuko," he finally said while reading the text. "He said that the code to the gate is…" he sighed and turned off his phone. "It's Ozai. The code to his secret underground base is Ozai."

Teo and Katara both got disgusted looks on their faces. "Wow, someone's full of themselves," Teo rolled his eyes. "Okay, well that takes care of that, but what about the guards and the guard dogs?"

Aang smirked and showed him his blade. "The dogs will live, but don't worry about the guards. They won't be a problem."

* * *

Several hours later, they all were on a rooftop across from Agni Manor. Even Zuko, who had insisted on joining this mission.

"I'll be able to help you guys get through the place since you've never been there before," was his reasoning when Aang had objected to it. And as much as Aang didn't want to put his friend in danger, he knew that he had a point.

And of course Mai had insisted on coming. Zuko had tried to talk _her_ out of it, but that had proven to be a bad idea, as she had threatened him with no sex for a week. And knowing she was absolutely serious, he had reluctantly agreed to let her go with them.

Teo, despite him not being an official part of the Order, after seeing all that the ones who had blackmailed him had done to the city and how they truly saw the ones "beneath" them, had decided to cast aside his role as an independent hacker and to join the Order. Although he most certainly wasn't trained enough yet, he wanted to be a part of the group. Aang didn't mind. After all, they would likely need some technological help as well.

And last but certainly not least, somehow her brother had found out about her joining the Order. Though he supposed it was likely due to the fact that she now had a trench coat that she pretty much had to take with her whenever she went on a mission. After some arguing and a lot of choice words about each other, Katara had reluctantly agreed to ask the Order if he could be in with them.

Though the Order was surprised at this influx of new recruits, they knew they weren't exactly in a position to be refusing anyone who was willing to help them in their goals. And, with a few remarks of Sokka being a possible liability, finally agreed to let him join.

Looking through a pair of binoculars, Aang searched for the entrance to the bunker where Teo's father was being kept. It was harder to find than he had anticipated, but after a few minutes of searching, he found it. "There!" he pointed in the general direction.

Mai looked at him with a roll of her eyes. "Gee, that points it out so well. Thanks," she commented dryly.

Katara glared at her friend, feeling protective over her boyfriend. "Shouldn't your fiance know where it is? It's his father's mansion," she shot back.

Zuko laughed a little bitterly. "My father doesn't tell me anything. He thinks I'm too weak to help with any of his work."

"But you're not," Aang stepped in, being ever the peacemaker. "You're strong enough to see that he's causing problems for the city and that this needs to be done. Can we all just agree on that?" Everyone nodded silently. "Good," he smiled before he motioned for them to watch him. He pointed again where he had found it. It was a rather small gate, cleverly concealed behind two large rocks that were completely out of place but could be easily mistaken as decoration for the yard.

"Oh," Sokka murmured. "Now I see it. But how are we going to take out the guards?" he wondered.

Aang and Zuko looked at each other and grinned. "Oh, I think we can take care of them." He turned to Katara. "You're good with dogs, right?"

She smiled. "I love dogs."

"Do you think you could calm them down and have them not attack us?" he wondered.

Thinking about it for a moment, she realized there was a special technique that her master had taught her. One about pacifying your enemies in battle if you didn't want to kill them, which for her was generally the case. "I should be able to do it," she affirmed.

"Great," he smiled and kissed her, making Sokka groan as he ripped his eyes away from the horrible sight, feeling like he had just stared into the sun. Once they were done, he continued. "So, me, Zuko, Mai, and Sokka will take care of the guards. Teo will take care of the gate and Katara will pacify the dogs. Sound like a plan?" They all nodded their agreement. "Let's get to work." Gathering them all in a ball of air, he launched it into the sky and set them down on the ground, about twenty feet away from the gate. Fortunately for them, neither the guards nor the dogs seemed to have noticed.

Aang motioned for them all to follow as they snuck along the path, remembering that there were traps everywhere else. As they crept, they noticed something they hadn't earlier. A woman was speaking to the guards.

"Listen here, bucko!" the woman angrily yelled at them. "I'm tired of you guys making noises all the time down there. So why don't you guys just keep it down, and we'll all go about our days!"

One of the guards recognized her, for she lived down the street. "Lady, your house is all the way down there." He pointed to it. "How can you possibly hear it?"

"Because I have super hearing, you dolts!" she sarcastically barked, getting a little spit on their faces. "Now keep it down, or else!" Her blind eyes seethed with rage.

The guards looked at each other with amused smirks. "Oh yeah. And what are you going to do about it?" one asked her while pointing the gun at her.

They, unfortunately, were not given the chance to speak further, as Aang, Zuko, Mai and Sokka came crashing down from the rocks that had obscured the entrance and taken their lives. Katara, seeing the dogs, quickly walked through the entrance as they started barking and sent some water to their heads. Using her healing, she forced the dogs into a peaceful slumber as their minds relaxed and slumped to the ground.

"Good job, Kat," Aang smiled at her. She smiled back happily and was about to get a kiss when Sokka rudely interrupted them.

"How did you do that?" he asked in amazement.

Once she was over her annoyance of her brother, she shrugged. "I just used the water to kind of lull them to sleep. If you're a healer, you can put anyone to sleep so that you can work on them if they won't work with you."

They were all amazed at hearing this, but their thoughts were interrupted by the angry lady. "Um, excuse me? Who are you people?" she demanded with an accusatory finger in Sokka's face.

"None of your business," Sokka replied evenly while moving her finger out from under his nose. "We've just got some business with Ozai."

Toph snorted and blew her bans out of her eyes. "Well get in line. These jerks won't keep quiet, even when I asked politely."

"Did you actually ask politely?" Katara asked curiously.

"No," Toph admitted after a moment of silence. "But if they weren't so loud down there, then maybe I wouldn't have to. I'm tired of hearing some old guy cry out in pain," she complained.

Teo gasped. "Dad!" He ran over to the gate and started to get to work. There were several different locks on it, and he knew that it would take a few minutes to get through everything, even with the code for the main lock.

"So, you guys got beef with Ozai, huh?" Toph smirked. "Getting sick of him, too?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Zuko agreed quietly.

Toph snorted and rolled her eyes. "It's about time you stand up against him, Sourpuss."

Zuko's eyes widened in surprise. "You remember me?" he asked incredulously.

"Of course I do. How could I forget the most awkward couple on the block," she snickered, making both Mai and Zuko blush in perfect harmony. "So, you guys want help?"

Everyone stared at her in disbelief. "You want to help us?" Aang finally sputtered out in astonishment.

She simply shrugged and let out a little yawn. "I'm bored and my parents never let me do anything fun, even though I'm legally old enough to get my own place. I just want to have some fun destroying things," she admitted with her arms crossed defiantly over her chest.

Before anyone could respond, Teo pressed the code for the main lock, but the alarms started going off, much to everyone's surprise. "What did you do?" Zuko yelled over the noise.

"I didn't _do_ anything!" Teo yelled back as he tried putting the code in again, but nothing changed. "You must have gotten the wrong code!"

"Or he was given the wrong code," Aang muttered to himself, wondering if this was all a trap made by Ozai. "Well, what do we do?" he shouted over the alarms.

Toph cracked her neck and each of her knuckles. "I've got this." She motioned for them to step back and got into a fighting position. Then, to everyone's surprise, she bent the metal bars of the gate open and made it large enough for everyone to get through. "Come on! We're wasting time!" she called over her shoulder before she ran in. Everyone stood there in shock for a moment; then snapped out of it and followed her in.

Making their way inside, they were surprised to see just how big the bunker was. It was… _enormous_. Easily spanning the size of the mansion, if not larger. They didn't have much time to take this into account, however, when some guards came running up to them with guns and what appeared to be replica police batons in their hands.

Grinning excitedly, Toph took some metal from a nearby machine and surrounded herself in it with armor before getting into a fighting stance.

"You want it?" she challenged with a smirk peering out from the hole she had left in the armor. "Come and get it."

The guards surged forward, ready for a fight while everyone else got into line next to Toph. Although this certainly wasn't how they had expected it to go, they knew they had no other choice now. They needed to rescue Teo's father and take down Ozai. This was no longer an option.

The guards and the others clashed, sending sounds of war throughout the bunker as they fought. Toph, of course, was having the time of her life. Beating up soldiers while sinking other soldiers to their waste in the ground beneath them. Normally she wouldn't hesitate to kill, but she wasn't particularly in the mood for it that day.

The same could not be said for everyone else.

Aang and Katara worked together, standing back to back against the crowd of soldiers that had surrounded the little group. And they were doing quite well. If one wasn't attacking, the other was defending, as if they had practiced this maneuver a hundred times.

Sokka was doing well holding his own. Fortunately for him, he had wisely brought along his trusty boomerang and the real sword his father had given him for his eighteenth birthday. Though he had never thought he would use it, he knew now that it was a wise decision to ask for it.

Zuko and Mai had decided to cut a path through the soldiers, wanting to get this mission over with as quickly as possible. Though he would never admit it, Zuko was a little nervous. After all, even if Ozai was a terrible father to him, he was still his father. It would take some self-convincing for him to carry out the act.

"Watch out!" a voice yelled from behind them. Turning around quickly, Zuko was surprised to see a soldier sneaking up on him. The soldier attempted to shoot him, but he simply dodged the bullet and shot some fire at him, making him stumble backwards until Toph knocked him out with a swift kick to the head.

"Watch your back, Sourpuss!" she yelled over the noise before running back into the fight. Zuko rolled his eyes and resumed his path, looking around for anything that could tell him where Teo's father would be.

"Help! Somebody help me!" a voice called from down a hallway to their right. Zuko and Mai looked at each other quickly and nodded before they took off down the hallway, making sure to take out some soldiers along the way. As they finally reached the hallway, a group of soldiers came out of nowhere and blocked the cell where a middle aged man was sitting.

The lead soldier, an imposing man who easily towered above Zuko grinned at him. "Nice to see you again, boss. Sorry it has to end this way."

Zuko became worried. This man was his father's most elite soldier. If they had to fight him… he didn't know if they would be able to survive. Shaking his head from these thoughts, he decided to try to reason with him.

"Sir, please. Just let us take the man. The ones who kidnapped him promised to have him back after the deal was completed, but my father didn't keep his word."

He simply shrugged, seeming unaffected. "I am aware of this, but you know as well as I do that I'm a mercenary. I work for money."

That's when an idea came to mind. One that would ensure that they received his help. "If you help me now, once my father is dead, I'll give you however much you want from my family's fortune."

The man raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Really?"

Zuko nodded quickly, eyeing the other soldiers, knowing they could attack at any moment. "Yes," he finally replied.

"Ten million dollars?" the man asked, making the soldiers at his side wary, unsure whether Zuko would agree or not.

"Yes," Zuko responded immediately. After all, it wasn't like his family couldn't afford it. They were billionaires thanks to his father's corruption of the city and the marketplace. Ten million was nothing to them.

"Make it twenty and you've got a deal," he finally decided, waiting to see what Zuko would say.

Zuko finally smiled for the first time that day. "Deal."

The man nodded. "Good to be working for you again boss." Without another word, he turned to his ex-coworkers and picked one up, chucking him across the room. Another foolishly attempted to shoot him, but he simply swatted the bullet away with his metal gloves and punched him into the wall, knocking him out. The last few, having seen how much damage had been done in a matter of seconds, wisely decided to run away.

"That's what I thought," the man snorted with his arms crossed. Zuko was relieved. This would certainly help them get their mission completed.

"Thank you," he sighed in relief before gesturing to the cell. "Would you mind?"

"Whatever you say, boss," the tower of a man shrugged before ripping the cell door off its hinges. Flinging the door to the ground, he walked in and gently picked up the man who had bruises and cuts on him. Nothing too serious, but enough to make Zuko wince a little. "What should I do with this guy?"

Before Zuko could answer, Teo came running up to him. "Dad!"

His father smiled at the familiar voice and wriggled his way out of the man's hold on him. "Son!" They met each other in a hug, though it didn't last long. He had very little energy left from his time in the bunker, making him fall onto his knees.

Teo grabbed his arm and slung it over his shoulder. "Come on. We need to get you back to the base."

"But they know where our base is," his father objected in confusion.

"No, dad. A new base." His father just looked confused again, but he shook his head. "I'll explain on the way." He looked at Zuko gratefully. "Thank you." Zuko simply nodded in response before Teo led his father down the hallway and out of sight.

As if on cue, the rest of their group came running up to them, getting into a fighting stance upon seeing the giant before them. "Whoa, whoa, guys. He's on our side!" Zuko put his hands up to stop them.

They all relaxed a little, but were clearly still weary. After all, they knew how these soldiers operated. They were sold to the highest bidder, and could always turn on those that they had once allied themselves with.

"If you say so…" Aang shrugged before looking at the group. "Alright. Now that Teo's father is out of here, we need to go find Ozai." He looked at Zuko. "Are you sure you're ready to do this? This isn't something you should take lightly," he warned him.

Zuko was silent for a moment. Of course he was hesitant, but he knew this needed to be done. His father had hurt too many people, including himself. His reign of terror would finally end today. "I'm ready," he replied confidently.

"Okay then. Let's go get him." He put his hand out and everyone, including their new "recruits". "We're going to go in, find him, and help this city get back to what it should be. You guys ready?" They all nodded. "On three. One, two, three, team!" They all said "team" at the same time and started walking to a nearby elevator that clearly led to the mansion. Stepping inside, Aang couldn't help but feel a little amused at the situation he found himself in. Though it was a little cramped, he was surrounded by friends and allies who all wanted to work together for the common good. It made him proud to be where he was.

Before long, the elevator had finally arrived at the proper floor. They were not so surprised, however, when it opened to reveal what Aang could only assume was a throne room, judging by the large seat in the center of the room.

"Wow. Someone's full of themselves," Sokka whispered to his sister. Katara would have laughed had the situation not been so serious.

"Ah, so my traitorous son has finally come to claim my life," Ozai said simply, taking Zuko by surprise. "Yes, I know that you joined that silly Order who wants to stop me. You're fortunate that your sister isn't here, or I would sick her on you."

"Where is she?" Zuko asked in surprise, thinking that he might have to fight her. He didn't want to, but he knew if she stood by her father, he wouldn't have much choice.

Ozai didn't say anything for a moment. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "She was asking questions about your mother, and I refused to say anything about that vile woman."

"Don't you say anything bad about her!" Zuko snarled.

Ozai smirked evilly and stood up, stretching his hands and cracking his knuckles. "It seems you still have a lot to learn, my son. Though it won't matter." He let his hands on fire. "None of you will leave here alive."

Toph decided to take the initiative and shoot some Earth at him, but a soldier jumped out of nowhere and kicked the rock away. Nine other soldiers came out, all of the brandishing a sword in one hand a pistol in the other.

"These are my elite forces," he gestured to them before he looked at the large man. "Since you decided to help them, you'll just have to die with them as well. It's a shame. I certainly could have used you." He looked at his shoulders. "Do not spare them." They leapt right into action, trying to catch them by surprise. Everyone managed to stop their attack, but Aang, Katara, Mai, and Zuko knew that it would take the four of them to take him down.

"You focus on Ozai! We've got this," Toph smirked before sending a few of the soldiers up to the roof where they promptly fell back down to geh ground. Not wasting another moment, the four commenced their attack on the man, trying their best to trip him in any way.

Despite his age, he was very limber. Easily dodging the shurikens Mai would throw at him, breaking the fire Zuko shot at him, Avoiding the gusts of air Aang shot at him, and the water whip Katara had brought out. But he knew that this wouldn't last forever. They were younger and had more energy than him. His only hope was that his soldiers would make short work of their friends and then them afterwards, so he decided to stay completely on defense for now.

This didn't seem very likely as he continued to dodge, as Toph had already taken out half of his soldiers. He cursed himself for not hiring any bender soldiers. Perhaps that would have been the difference that would win the day.

His thoughts had not helped him, as he did not see the water tentacle that had wrapped around his leg. Gasping in surprise, he felt himself being flipped in the air and slammed to the ground, feeling several of his ribs broken. Attempting to get up, he groaned in pain and got on his knees, but he was forced back down by the man who was formerly in his employ; his large foot holding him down.

Knowing that the battle was lost, the other soldiers put their weapons down and got down on their knees in a position of surrender. Just to be on the safe side, Toph walked up to each of them and knocked them out. Everyone in the room was breathing heavily, weary from all the fighting they had just gone through.

The man looked to Zuko with a questioning look, and Zuko understood what he was asking. Ozai looked up at him and snarled. "Do it. Prove that you're not the weakling I think you are and finish the job."

There was silence for a moment as Zuko pondered about what to do. Now that he was here, his reluctance had only grown. He knew it needed to be done, but… he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

Aang walked up to him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Zuko. You don't have to do this alone. We're all here for you. Do you want me to do it?" he asked gently.

After a few moments of looking at his defeated father, he shook his head. "No. I've got this." Aang nodded and took a step back as he walked up to his father and looked at him. Ozai was a shell of the man he used to be. "Father. Though you and I never truly got along, I just want to say that… I'm sorry that it had to end this way."

"Oh really? Well I'm not!" Ozai growled back. "I should have killed you when I had the chance," he muttered to himself.

Zuko felt a stab of pain, but quickly got over it. All he could see was the monster his father had become. Without any more hesitation, Zuko took the blade Aang had made for him and cut his throat open, stepping away quickly as blood flowed out of the wound. With one last look of hatred, Ozai's eyes slowly dimmed, signalling the end of an era.

"Are you okay?" Mai asked gently as she walked up to him.

Silence filled the room for a moment before he slowly nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." He looked at his friend. "Thank you."

Aang looked at him in confusion. "For what?" he asked, astonished.

Zuko looked down again at the rapidly cooling body that used to be his father. "For not letting me be like him," he told him truthfully, making Aang smile a little.

"No problem, buddy," Aang patted him on the back. Taking a deep breath, they all stood there in silence for a moment, just letting everything calm down as Zuko continued to stare at his now deceased father.

* * *

A few weeks later, everything was on its way back to normal. Ozai had been given a funeral, more than he deserved, really, but Zuko had insisted on it. Azula had returned, having heard of their father's death, though to his surprise she wasn't upset. She had been upset with her father as well when she had found out that he had kicked their mother out from their home when she spoke up against his wrong doings of the city. Zuko, Mai, and Azula had gone to find her, leaving Aang, Katara, Sokka, Teo, and now Toph to pick up the pieces.

Toph, after having the time of her life helping them win, had decided that she had enough of listening to her parents. She wanted to do something with her life other than pretend to be the obedient daughter her parents wanted her to be. Though they weren't happy about it, they understood that they couldn't do anything about it and let her go. For the first time in her life, Toph truly felt free. And she would use that freedom to help the Order.

Teo and his father, after talking about all that had transpired over the time of his kidnapping, had agreed that they would stop working for themselves. Having seen how some people chose to use their power and wealth for evil, they decided to help those who wanted to use it for good. And it turned out to be the best decision they had ever made.

Sokka, after the showdown with Ozai, had decided that he would take his new "job" more seriously, having really seen just what he had signed up for. He delved into the history of the order and their methods, and most importantly, why they did what they did. With the council's permission, he was deemed worthy enough to start his own base where he would work on securing recruits and ensuring that the people of the city would be well-protected. Even with Ozai gone and Zuko in his place, there were still many others in the city who wished to take power from the innocent. And he would ensure that didn't happen.

Aang and Katara had decided to take a few weeks off from their 'job'. Aang loved knowing that he could call it "their" job. He wanted to share everything with her, and he was just happy that he found someone who knew about it and still wanted to be with him. Hell, she had even _joined_ his "job".

After they had decided they had long enough of a break, they were sitting on the rooftop of the bar, enjoying the beautiful night sky before them.

"It's so beautiful," Katara breathed in amazement as she looked up at it.

"Yes you are," Aang said slyly, earning a laugh and a playful shove from Katara.

"Oh, shut it," she grinned before leaning in to give him a kiss. He smiled and kissed her back for a few moments before they pulled apart. Katara sighed contentedly as she leaned against him. "I'm glad, you know."

He looked at her in bewilderment. "Glad about what?"

She looked at him with an indulgent smile. "I'm glad that I caught Jet cheating on me. If I hadn't, I might not have ever found purpose for my life. Helping people, using my waterbending skills for good, taking down bad guys."

He gasped in mock affront. "What about me?" he asked fake-sadly.

She smirked and shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh. I like the other stuff more," she teased, making him roll his eyes with a grin, knowing she was kidding. "You know I'm kidding," she laughed a little and kissed his cheek. "Meeting you was the best part."

"Really?" he asked hopefully.

"Really," she agreed with a smile. He smiled back and pulled her in for a slow, passionate kiss, just savoring the taste of each others' lips.

They were interrupted, however, by a call from Katara's phone. Groaning slightly, she forced herself to stop kissing him and looked at it to see her brother. "What do you want, Sokka?" she grumbled, clearly not happy about being interrupted.

"Yeesh. Sorry sis, but we need help. Can you guys come to my base? We've got a bit of a problem," he asked over the phone.

She looked at Aang who shrugged, and she sighed. "Fine. We'll be there soon." She hung up without letting him respond, making Aang laugh. Standing up, he offered his hand to her.

"Shall we?"

Smiling, she took his hand and followed him as they put their hoods on. "Ready," she agreed as they stood on the ledge. Sneaking one last kiss, they both looked down at the city below them and jumped, letting the wind carry them to their next adventure, knowing they would be fine as long as they had each other.

* * *

**Alright! Thank you guys for reading this. Sorry if it wasn't what you guys had been hoping for, but I just liked this idea and I'm glad I did it this way. Anyway, I'm excited to get to work on some new projects, so keep an eye out for that. Thank you guys for everything and I hope you all have a great day!**


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